Eastman Chemical (EMN) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.83 on January 8th

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 5th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of 0.83 per share by the basic materials company on Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81.

Eastman Chemical has increased its dividend payment by an average of 6.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Eastman Chemical has a payout ratio of 38.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Eastman Chemical to earn $8.92 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.2%.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EMN opened at $98.50 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.42 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $104.33 and a 200-day moving average of $101.76. Eastman Chemical has a 12 month low of $80.71 and a 12 month high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.12. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 15.37% and a net margin of 9.47%. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.47 EPS. Eastman Chemical’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EMN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America lowered Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $114.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $321,405.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,298,430. This represents a 19.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of Eastman Chemical 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $466,013.52. The trade was a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,021 shares of company stock valued at $1,895,948. 1.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.