HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Buys Shares of 3,786 Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,786 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY bought a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth $205,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,575,783 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $231,357,000 after buying an additional 168,009 shares during the period. Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter valued at about $812,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 99,419 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,930,000 after acquiring an additional 14,898 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 52.9% in the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 32,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,956,000 after acquiring an additional 11,376 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EMN opened at $98.07 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.64, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.51. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $68.89 and a 52 week high of $105.98.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 10.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp increased their price target on Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $106.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Mizuho increased their target price on Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Eastman Chemical from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 3,662 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total value of $370,814.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Mark J. Costa sold 102,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total transaction of $10,318,864.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 395,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,878,545.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 3,662 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total value of $370,814.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 108,027 shares of company stock valued at $10,885,638 over the last three months. 1.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.