Investors Purchase Large Volume of Eastman Chemical Call Options (NYSE:EMN)

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders purchased 3,004 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 674% compared to the average daily volume of 388 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EMN. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $150,537,000. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $137,848,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $137,416,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3,136.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 736,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $67,213,000 after acquiring an additional 713,272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,886,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $537,561,000 after acquiring an additional 697,388 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

EMN stock opened at $88.55 on Friday. Eastman Chemical has a 1 year low of $86.70 and a 1 year high of $114.50. The company has a market cap of $10.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.53, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $95.92 and a 200 day moving average of $99.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.27%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is 43.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EMN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $109.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.08.

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.