Econ Financial Services Corp Purchases Shares of 16,705 Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Econ Financial Services Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 16,705 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,526,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 4.3% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 3,434 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $384,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. RKL Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $744,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.64.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock opened at $101.85 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.52. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $94.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.07. The company has a market cap of $11.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.44. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $80.89 and a one year high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 9.65%. On average, research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 8.46 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is currently 43.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eastman Chemical news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $466,013.52. This trade represents a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.28% 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.