Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Grows Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 57.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,451 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,990 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $498,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EMN. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 1,104.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 933,984 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $104,560,000 after purchasing an additional 856,432 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 57.2% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 935,732 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $104,755,000 after buying an additional 340,562 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 5.7% during the third 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 period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 492.9% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 443.1% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 158,253 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,716,000 after buying an additional 129,112 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 18th. Bank of America upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the 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 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 transaction 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 the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total value of $471,623.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Eastman Chemical Stock Down 2.1 %

EMN stock opened at $101.32 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $11.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.44. The company’s 50 day moving average is $94.40 and its 200 day moving average is $100.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Eastman Chemical has a 1-year low of $83.72 and a 1-year high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 9.65%. Sell-side analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.23%.

Eastman Chemical Company 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.