New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 3,514 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 185,934 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,514 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $16,979,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 94.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 916 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 924 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of EMN stock opened at $98.63 on Friday. Eastman Chemical has a 52-week low of $85.28 and a 52-week high of $114.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.36 billion, a PE ratio of 12.84, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.24.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 9.65%. On average, analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastman Chemical

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total transaction of $471,623.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $466,013.52. This represents a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $1,102,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,965,135. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on EMN shares. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.08.

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.