Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Purchases 660 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $684,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 238.1% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 94.7% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 52.6% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 537 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 784.4% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 681 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 604 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup downgraded Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $104.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $109.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.92.

Eastman Chemical Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:EMN opened at $92.69 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.74 billion, a PE ratio of 12.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.44. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $95.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.12. Eastman Chemical has a 1 year low of $80.71 and a 1 year high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.47 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $321,405.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,298,430. This represents a 19.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the 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 directly owns 47,287 shares in the company, valued at $4,965,135. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,021 shares of company stock valued at $1,895,948 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.93% 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.