Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Short Interest Update

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) saw a large increase in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,060,000 shares, an increase of 56.1% from the October 31st total of 1,320,000 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 946,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Insider Activity at Eastman Chemical

In other news, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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 owns 12,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,298,430. This represents a 19.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 18,021 shares of company stock valued at $1,895,948. Corporate insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eastman Chemical

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 238.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 94.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Trading Up 0.5 %

EMN stock traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $104.72. 498,661 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,118,542. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $106.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.72. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $80.71 and a fifty-two week high of $114.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $12.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.02, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.44.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $114.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.86.

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.