Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Shares Sold by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC decreased its position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 154,579 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 8,798 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 0.13% of Eastman Chemical worth $14,115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EMN. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 315,044 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,268,000 after purchasing an additional 10,695 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 148,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,588,000 after purchasing an additional 9,447 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,383,000 after purchasing an additional 777 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 25,133 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,295,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares during the period. Finally, Cooper Financial Group boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 3,725 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EMN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (down previously from $112.00) on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $101.00 in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Bank of America upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Eastman Chemical from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on Eastman Chemical from $120.00 to $106.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.15.

Eastman Chemical Stock Down 0.5%

EMN opened at $82.39 on Wednesday. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $70.90 and a one year high of $114.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $82.55 and its 200-day moving average is $92.41. The company has a market capitalization of $9.51 billion, a PE ratio of 10.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.29.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.02. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 9.65%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.61 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities 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 will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.24%.

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.