Franklin Resources Inc. Has $528.31 Million Holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,785,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 565,821 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 4.99% of Eastman Chemical worth $528,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. James J. Burns & Company LLC bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter worth approximately $741,000. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter worth about $3,319,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Eastman Chemical by 492.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 213,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,863,000 after buying an additional 177,207 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 44,675 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,081,000 after buying an additional 5,700 shares during the period. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 57.4% in the third quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 41,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,635,000 after acquiring an additional 15,100 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eastman Chemical Stock Up 1.3 %

Eastman Chemical stock opened at $88.14 on Tuesday. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $85.84 and a fifty-two week high of $114.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.51. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.29. The stock has a market cap of $10.15 billion, a PE ratio of 11.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43.

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

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on EMN shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 18th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.08.

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.