Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Shares Sold by ARK Investment Management LLC

ARK Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 16.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 826 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 167 shares during the quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $75,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 118.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 17,578 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,968,000 after acquiring an additional 9,517 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 10.4% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 11,426 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,279,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical during the third quarter worth approximately $5,163,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 3rd quarter valued at $277,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 45.5% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 12,360 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,389,000 after acquiring an additional 3,866 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 0.9 %

EMN opened at $98.08 on Thursday. Eastman Chemical has a 12-month low of $85.28 and a 12-month high of $114.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.30 billion, a PE ratio of 12.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $94.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.32.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.27%. As a group, research analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on EMN. Citigroup lowered Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group reduced 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.08.

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.