MetLife Investment Management LLC Purchases 301 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 30,694 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $2,803,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth approximately $150,537,000. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at $137,848,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth $137,416,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3,136.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 736,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $67,213,000 after acquiring an additional 713,272 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,886,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $537,561,000 after acquiring an additional 697,388 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 6.2 %

NYSE EMN opened at $75.80 on Monday. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $70.90 and a one year high of $114.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $8.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $87.38 and its 200-day moving average is $94.89.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.02. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on EMN. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $101.00 in a report on Friday, April 4th. Mizuho raised Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. StockNews.com raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 18th. Finally, Bank of America raised Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.08.

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.