Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 65.0% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 4,451 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 1,753 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 105,524 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,338,000 after buying an additional 5,331 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 46,665 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,572,000 after acquiring an additional 1,625 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 48,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,741,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Eastman Chemical during the second quarter worth about $2,045,000. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EMN. StockNews.com raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 18th. Citigroup downgraded Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.54.

Eastman Chemical Stock Up 7.4 %

Shares of EMN opened at $99.52 on Friday. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $80.71 and a fifty-two week high of $114.50. The company’s fifty day moving average is $94.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.03. The firm has a market cap of $11.54 billion, a PE ratio of 13.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.44. 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 (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 15.37% and a net margin of 9.47%. Analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.83 dividend. This is a positive change from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 19.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $1,102,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948 over the last ninety days. 1.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Eastman Chemical 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.