Regents Gate Capital LLP Invests $10.24 Million in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Regents Gate Capital LLP bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 112,073 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,235,000. Eastman Chemical accounts for about 4.1% of Regents Gate Capital LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 238.1% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 94.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 784.4% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 681 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 604 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup cut shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastman Chemical

In other Eastman Chemical news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value 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 $4,965,135. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total transaction of $471,623.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $466,013.52. This trade represents a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE:EMN opened at $99.20 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $11.50 billion, a PE ratio of 12.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $81.00 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $94.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.14.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.40%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a boost 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 3.35%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.23%.

Eastman Chemical 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.