Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Eastman Chemical from $118.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $107.00 to $105.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $103.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $107.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.50.

Eastman Chemical Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of EMN opened at $101.61 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $106.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Eastman Chemical has a 1 year low of $80.14 and a 1 year high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.47 earnings per share. Eastman Chemical’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $321,405.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,298,430. This trade represents a 19.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EMN. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,285,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $595,820,000 after purchasing an additional 70,692 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 649.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,511,466 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $452,139,000 after buying an additional 3,909,740 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Eastman Chemical by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,784,102 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $310,628,000 after buying an additional 13,381 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 3.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,734,190 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $306,093,000 after buying an additional 83,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 9.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,280,699 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $223,435,000 after acquiring an additional 198,645 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

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.