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

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $113.92.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on EMN shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America cut shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $114.00 to $119.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastman Chemical

In other Eastman Chemical news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $1,102,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,287 shares in the company, valued at $4,965,135. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $321,405.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,298,430. The trade was a 19.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,021 shares of company stock valued at $1,895,948 over the last 90 days. 2.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eastman Chemical

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 492.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 213,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,863,000 after acquiring an additional 177,207 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 21.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 110,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,383,000 after purchasing an additional 19,809 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 6.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 148,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,588,000 after buying an additional 9,447 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 21.0% in the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 46,288 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,535,000 after buying an additional 8,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the third quarter valued at approximately $632,000. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE EMN opened at $91.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $10.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.42. 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 1 year low of $80.71 and a 1 year high of $114.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $101.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.41.

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

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 44.44%.

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.