Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Downgraded by Citigroup to Neutral

Citigroup downgraded shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $104.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $118.00.

EMN has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America cut shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $114.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.92.

Eastman Chemical Trading Up 0.6 %

EMN stock traded up $0.57 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $91.52. The company had a trading volume of 99,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 969,052. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $80.71 and a one year high of $114.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business has a 50-day moving average of $103.82 and a 200-day moving average of $101.72. The stock has a market cap of $10.61 billion, a PE ratio of 12.25, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.42.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.38 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.47 EPS. Eastman Chemical’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders 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 represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. This is an increase from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Insider Transactions at Eastman Chemical

In related news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 4,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $466,013.52. This trade represents a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were 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 directly owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. 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. Corporate insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EMN. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $23,863,000 after acquiring an additional 177,207 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 21.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 110,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,383,000 after buying an additional 19,809 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 6.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 46,288 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,535,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the third quarter worth about $632,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% 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.