Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Downgraded by Citigroup to “Neutral”

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $104.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $118.00. Citigroup’s target price suggests a potential upside of 15.52% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on EMN. Bank of America lowered shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $114.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Mizuho raised their price target on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.92.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

NYSE EMN opened at $90.03 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $103.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.64. The company has a market capitalization of $10.44 billion, a PE ratio of 12.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.42. Eastman Chemical has a 1 year low of $80.71 and a 1 year 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.

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

Insider Activity

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $321,405.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,298,430. This represents a 19.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,965,135. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948 in the last 90 days. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eastman Chemical

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised 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 buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in Eastman Chemical by 94.7% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 30.9% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.