Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Short Interest Update

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,060,000 shares, a growth of 56.1% from the October 31st total of 1,320,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 946,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total value of $471,623.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $466,013.52. This represents a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $321,405.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,298,430. This trade represents a 19.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dakota Wealth Management increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 13.5% during the second quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 22,280 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,183,000 after buying an additional 2,655 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 21.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 110,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,383,000 after buying an additional 19,809 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 6.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 148,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,588,000 after buying an additional 9,447 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 119.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 10,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after purchasing an additional 5,496 shares during the period. Finally, Comerica Bank lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 18.5% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 39,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,939,000 after purchasing an additional 6,126 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EMN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America cut Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $114.00 to $119.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com cut Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.86.

Eastman Chemical Trading Up 0.5 %

Eastman Chemical stock traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $104.72. The stock had a trading volume of 498,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,118,542. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Eastman Chemical has a 52-week low of $80.71 and a 52-week high of $114.50. The firm has a market cap of $12.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a fifty day moving average of $106.26 and a 200 day moving average of $101.72.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.12. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.