Hilltop Holdings Inc. Acquires Shares of 2,443 Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Hilltop Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,443 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EMN. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 238.1% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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 represents a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,021 shares of company stock valued at $1,895,948. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on EMN. StockNews.com raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America cut Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $114.00 to $119.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.86.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 0.4 %

Eastman Chemical stock opened at $101.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $105.39 and a 200-day moving average of $101.78. The company has a market cap of $11.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.42. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $80.71 and a one year high of $114.50.

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

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio 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.