Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $114.08.

EMN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th.

Eastman Chemical Trading Up 2.1 %

EMN opened at $98.93 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $95.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.32. The company has a market capitalization of $11.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.88, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $86.70 and a 52 week high of $114.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 9.65%. Analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.23%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at $150,537,000. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at $137,848,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at $137,416,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3,136.8% in the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 736,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $67,213,000 after purchasing an additional 713,272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,886,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $537,561,000 after purchasing an additional 697,388 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Eastman Chemical

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.