Novare Capital Management LLC Sells 185 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Novare Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,525 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 185 shares during the period. Novare Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Olstein Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 66,779 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,098,000 after acquiring an additional 9,279 shares in the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,319,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 20.4% during 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 last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 11,408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $1,102,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $321,405.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,298,430. This trade represents a 19.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948 in the last quarter. 1.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EMN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 18th. Citigroup lowered shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.92.

Eastman Chemical Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of EMN opened at $92.10 on Friday. Eastman Chemical has a 12 month low of $80.71 and a 12 month high of $114.50. The stock has a market cap of $10.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $95.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced 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 return on equity of 15.37% and a net margin of 9.47%. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.47 EPS. Eastman Chemical’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The company 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. This is a positive change 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.