Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Shares Bought by Olstein Capital Management L.P.

Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 66,779 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,279 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $6,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,319,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,687 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 11,408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,047,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the period. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 3,273 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 47,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total value of $471,623.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares in the company, valued at $466,013.52. This trade represents a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,021 shares of company stock valued at $1,895,948 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on EMN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup cut Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.92.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock opened at $92.10 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.17. The stock has a market cap of $10.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.33, a PEG ratio of 0.67 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.37%. Eastman Chemical’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.47 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.44%.

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.