Barclays Increases Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Price Target to $111.00

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) had its price target increased by Barclays from $103.00 to $111.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com lowered Eastman Chemical from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $125.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $106.00 to $128.00 in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $112.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $108.07.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of EMN opened at $101.70 on Monday. Eastman Chemical has a 52-week low of $68.89 and a 52-week high of $105.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $99.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.73. The stock has a market cap of $11.88 billion, a PE ratio of 13.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.46.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.14. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 9.65%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.99 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.75%.

Insider Transactions at Eastman Chemical

In other news, CEO Mark J. Costa sold 102,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total transaction of $10,318,864.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 395,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,878,545.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Mark J. Costa sold 102,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total transaction of $10,318,864.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 395,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,878,545.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 1,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.22, for a total value of $195,959.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 108,027 shares of company stock valued at $10,885,638. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,839,723 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,332,904,000 after purchasing an additional 61,580 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 649.8% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,511,466 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $452,139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,909,740 shares in the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 4,355,408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $391,203,000 after purchasing an additional 168,038 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,575,783 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $231,357,000 after acquiring an additional 168,009 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 11.0% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,199,943 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $220,478,000 after acquiring an additional 217,720 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.