Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $101.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $112.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Eastman Chemical from $95.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Eastman Chemical in a report on Thursday, February 15th. They issued a buy rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Eastman Chemical from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $125.00 in a report on Monday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $103.12.

Eastman Chemical Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock opened at $94.76 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $94.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $11.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.54. Eastman Chemical has a 1-year low of $68.89 and a 1-year high of $102.71.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.20. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 10.16%. The company had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 41.75%.

Insider Activity at Eastman Chemical

In related news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.75, for a total transaction of $415,496.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eastman Chemical

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 213.8% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

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.