Smith Moore & CO. Invests $229,000 in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Smith Moore & CO. bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,512 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EMN. Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 3rd quarter valued at about $236,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 11.2% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 4,951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $273,000. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 33,085 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,696,000 after buying an additional 2,183 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 26.6% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,868 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,441,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of EMN stock opened at $75.48 on Monday. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $73.78 and a one year high of $114.50. The company has a market cap of $8.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $94.76 and a 200-day moving average of $98.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.27%. Equities research analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.40%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EMN has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays cut their price target on Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.83.

Eastman Chemical Profile

Eastman Chemical Company operates as a specialty materials company in the United States, China, and internationally. The company's Additives & Functional Products segment offers amine derivative-based building blocks, intermediates for surfactants, metam-based soil fumigants, and organic acid-based solutions; specialty coalescent and solvents, paint additives, and specialty polymers; and heat transfer and aviation fluids.