Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Downgraded to “Neutral” at Bank of America

Bank of America cut shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Bank of America currently has $119.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $114.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $103.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Eastman Chemical from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Mizuho raised their price target on Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.20.

Eastman Chemical Stock Down 0.5 %

Eastman Chemical stock opened at $108.85 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $12.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.44. The business has a fifty day moving average of $103.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.52. Eastman Chemical has a twelve month low of $68.89 and a twelve month high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.14. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 9.65%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.99 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 238.1% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical in the first quarter valued at $34,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the first quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.