Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Increases Stock Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $1,108,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. James J. Burns & Company LLC purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter valued at about $741,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 492.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 213,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,863,000 after buying an additional 177,207 shares in the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,319,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 21.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 110,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,383,000 after buying an additional 19,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 6.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 148,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,588,000 after acquiring an additional 9,447 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EMN shares. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup cut Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.54.

Insider Activity

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total transaction of $471,623.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $466,013.52. The trade was a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $1,102,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,287 shares in the company, 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. Company insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

NYSE:EMN opened at $100.69 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.16. The stock has a market cap of $11.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. Eastman Chemical has a twelve month low of $81.00 and a twelve month high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.40%. As a group, research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 8.47 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.23%.

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.