Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on EMN. Bank of America cut Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $114.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho increased their price target on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.86.

Eastman Chemical Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of EMN opened at $101.94 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.52. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $80.71 and a one year high of $114.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.65, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $105.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.77.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.12. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 15.37% and a net margin of 9.47%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.47 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastman Chemical

In other news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $1,102,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total value of $471,623.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $466,013.52. The trade was a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,021 shares of company stock valued at $1,895,948 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 238.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 94.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

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.