Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $113.54.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EMN. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastman Chemical

In other news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were 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 approximately $4,965,135. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total transaction of $471,623.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,403 shares in the company, valued at $466,013.52. This represents a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EMN. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,785,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $528,310,000 after purchasing an additional 565,821 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 worth $595,820,000 after buying an additional 70,692 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,843,506 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $259,669,000 after buying an additional 109,316 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,832,593 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $257,986,000 after acquiring an additional 48,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $150,537,000. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of EMN opened at $101.33 on Thursday. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $81.00 and a fifty-two week high of $114.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $94.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.17. 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 company has a market capitalization of $11.75 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.40%. As a group, analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. 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 (DPR) is presently 43.23%.

About Eastman Chemical

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.