Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Grows Holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 36.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,386 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 911 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 238.1% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 94.7% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 30.9% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 52.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 537 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup lowered Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.92.

Insider Activity at Eastman Chemical

In other news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,287 shares in the company, valued at $4,965,135. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total transaction of $471,623.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares in the company, valued at $466,013.52. This trade represents a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.28% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EMN opened at $94.37 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.52. The firm has a market cap of $10.94 billion, a PE ratio of 12.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.44. Eastman Chemical has a twelve month low of $80.71 and a twelve month high of $114.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $96.21 and a 200-day moving average of $100.26.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. This is an increase from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.44%.

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.