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 Saturday morning.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup cut Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.92.

Eastman Chemical Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE EMN opened at $93.22 on Friday. Eastman Chemical has a 1 year low of $80.71 and a 1 year high of $114.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $96.34 and a 200 day moving average of $100.26. The stock has a market cap of $10.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.44.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The business’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.47 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 7.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a boost from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Insider Transactions at Eastman Chemical

In related news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,403 shares in the company, valued at $466,013.52. This trade represents a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction 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 $1,298,430. The trade was 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. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EMN. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 262.7% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,006 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $195,000 after buying an additional 1,453 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 108,112 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,592,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 190.7% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 61,918 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,066,000 after purchasing an additional 40,620 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 0.4% during the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 38,081 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,731,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 12.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 13,913 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,574 shares during the period. 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.