Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Shares Sold by Systematic Financial Management LP

Systematic Financial Management LP lowered its position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 1.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 24,735 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 435 shares during the quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $2,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EMN. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 81.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 47,691 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,780,000 after purchasing an additional 21,412 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 119.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 10,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,011,000 after buying an additional 5,496 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3.5% during the second quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,925 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $874,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 20.7% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,285 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $518,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,238 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,354,000 after purchasing an additional 5,133 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America cut shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $114.00 to $119.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastman Chemical

In other Eastman Chemical news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $1,102,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $321,405.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,366 shares in the company, valued at $1,298,430. This represents a 19.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,021 shares of company stock valued at $1,895,948 over the last three months. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Eastman Chemical stock opened at $101.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $105.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.42. Eastman Chemical has a 52-week low of $80.71 and a 52-week high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.12. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. This is a positive change from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.37%.

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.