Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 457 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $2,292,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. James J. Burns & Company LLC acquired a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at $741,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 492.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 213,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,863,000 after purchasing an additional 177,207 shares during the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at $3,319,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 110,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,383,000 after purchasing an additional 19,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 148,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,588,000 after acquiring an additional 9,447 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock opened at $100.69 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $94.27 and a 200 day moving average of $100.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. Eastman Chemical has a 12 month low of $81.00 and a 12 month high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 9.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. This is a positive change from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EMN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 18th. UBS Group cut their target price 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, Barclays lowered their price target on Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.54.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $1,102,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,965,135. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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. Company insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

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.