KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Purchases New Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 23,404 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,154,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,285,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $595,820,000 after buying an additional 70,692 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,219,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $593,233,000 after acquiring an additional 282,458 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,784,102 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $310,628,000 after acquiring an additional 13,381 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth $150,537,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,265,393 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $115,556,000 after purchasing an additional 51,367 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on EMN. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays cut their target price 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. UBS Group decreased their price target on Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.08.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

NYSE EMN opened at $88.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $10.24 billion, a PE ratio of 11.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $86.70 and a 52 week high of $114.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.44.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.27%. Research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.23%.

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.