Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $112.92.

EMN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho upped 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $109.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $1,298,430. This trade represents a 19.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total value of $471,623.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares in the company, valued at $466,013.52. The trade was a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,021 shares of company stock valued at $1,895,948 over the last three months. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Eastman Chemical by 492.9% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 213,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,863,000 after acquiring an additional 177,207 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 110,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,383,000 after purchasing an additional 19,809 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 148,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,588,000 after buying an additional 9,447 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 21.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 46,288 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,535,000 after buying an additional 8,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical during the third quarter worth $632,000. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock opened at $92.10 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $10.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.44. The business has a 50-day moving average of $95.70 and a 200 day moving average of $100.17. Eastman Chemical has a 12 month low of $80.71 and a 12 month high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued 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 company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. This is a positive change from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

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.