StockNews.com Upgrades Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Mizuho lifted their price target on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight 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 $112.92.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock opened at $93.22 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’s fifty day moving average price is $96.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.26. The firm has a market cap of $10.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.44. Eastman Chemical has a 12 month low of $80.71 and a 12 month high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.12. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.47 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 7.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.83 dividend. This is a positive change from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastman Chemical

In other Eastman Chemical news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were 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 directly owns 47,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,965,135. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total transaction of $471,623.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,403 shares in the company, valued at $466,013.52. This trade represents a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 238.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 94.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 30.9% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 52.6% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 537 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.