Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Increases Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 14.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 821,172 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 102,713 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.70% of Eastman Chemical worth $80,450,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new position in Eastman Chemical in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Eastman Chemical in the second quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EMN. StockNews.com raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on Eastman Chemical from $103.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.07.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of EMN opened at $106.63 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $99.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.45. The company has a market capitalization of $12.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.44. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $68.89 and a fifty-two week high of $108.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.14. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 9.65%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.99 earnings per share. Eastman Chemical’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 7.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.75%.

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.