Goelzer Investment Management Inc. Makes New $3.32 Million Investment in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 36,341 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,319,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EMN. State Street Corp grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,285,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $595,820,000 after purchasing an additional 70,692 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,219,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $593,233,000 after buying an additional 282,458 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,784,102 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $310,628,000 after buying an additional 13,381 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $306,093,000 after buying an additional 83,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 15.4% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 947,473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $106,070,000 after acquiring an additional 126,301 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $466,013.52. This trade represents a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $1,102,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,021 shares of company stock valued at $1,895,948. Insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of EMN opened at $92.10 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $10.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.33, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.44. Eastman Chemical has a 12 month low of $80.71 and a 12 month high of $114.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $95.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.13.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.47 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. This is a positive change from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Citigroup lowered Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.92.

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.