Sanctuary Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,534 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 474 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $2,366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,505 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $503,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 0.9% in the third quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 4.7% in the third quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shepherd Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 4.3% in the third quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,553 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 4,403 shares in the company, valued at $466,013.52. The trade was a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,965,135. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

NYSE:EMN opened at $98.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.51. Eastman Chemical has a 52-week low of $85.28 and a 52-week high of $114.50. The firm has a market cap of $11.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s fifty day moving average is $94.42 and its 200 day moving average is $100.24.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 9.65%. Research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 43.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EMN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup cut Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group cut their price objective 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. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven 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 an average target price of $114.08.

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.