Arizona State Retirement System Purchases 249 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,943 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $3,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EMN. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 384.4% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 373 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 94.7% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE:EMN opened at $98.93 on Monday. Eastman Chemical has a twelve month low of $86.70 and a twelve month high of $114.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $95.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.32.

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

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 43.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EMN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup cut Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.