Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $7,453,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 384.4% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 373 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EMN shares. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 18th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.08.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of EMN stock opened at $89.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.35 billion, a PE ratio of 11.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Eastman Chemical has a twelve month low of $86.70 and a twelve month high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.27%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.23%.

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.