Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $114.08.

EMN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America raised Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lowered Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 18th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd.

Eastman Chemical Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE EMN opened at $91.03 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.51. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $86.70 and a 52 week high of $114.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.85, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $95.64 and its 200 day moving average is $100.14.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 16.27% and a net margin of 9.65%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.23%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EMN. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter worth approximately $150,537,000. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter worth approximately $137,848,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter worth approximately $137,416,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3,136.8% in the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 736,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $67,213,000 after acquiring an additional 713,272 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,886,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $537,561,000 after acquiring an additional 697,388 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.