High Falls Advisors Inc Sells 540 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

High Falls Advisors Inc reduced its position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 17.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 540 shares during the period. High Falls Advisors Inc’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of EMN. Invenomic Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 42.1% in the 1st quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 179,410 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,980,000 after purchasing an additional 53,143 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 161,931 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,229,000 after buying an additional 15,859 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,199,943 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $220,478,000 after buying an additional 217,720 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 1st quarter valued at $212,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 50,934 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,105,000 after buying an additional 1,245 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE EMN traded up $2.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $103.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 983,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 982,149. The stock has a market cap of $12.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $68.89 and a one year high of $105.98. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.67.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.99 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $106.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $108.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 1,975 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.22, for a total transaction of $195,959.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 1,975 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.22, for a total transaction of $195,959.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark J. Costa sold 102,390 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total transaction of $10,318,864.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 395,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,878,545.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 108,027 shares of company stock valued at $10,885,638. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.