Eastman Chemical’s (EMN) Neutral Rating Reaffirmed at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued their neutral rating on shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a $76.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $112.00.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on EMN. Barclays dropped 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. Citigroup upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $105.00 to $101.00 in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $128.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $125.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.15.

Eastman Chemical Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE EMN opened at $77.03 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.39. Eastman Chemical has a 12 month low of $70.90 and a 12 month high of $114.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.03, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.38.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.02. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.31%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.24%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EMN. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 315,044 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,268,000 after purchasing an additional 10,695 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the third quarter worth $656,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 5.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,219,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $593,233,000 after buying an additional 282,458 shares during the period. IMS Capital Management purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical during the third quarter worth about $280,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 148,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,588,000 after acquiring an additional 9,447 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Company 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.