KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Acquires New Holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 23,404 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,154,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 856,508 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $78,217,000 after buying an additional 52,522 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth about $290,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 62.9% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,212 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 42.0% during the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,708 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $704,000 after acquiring an additional 2,279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth about $4,041,000. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

NYSE:EMN opened at $88.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.51. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $86.70 and a fifty-two week high of $114.50. The firm has a market cap of $10.24 billion, a PE ratio of 11.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $95.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.44.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly 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 predict that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EMN. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup downgraded Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $109.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.08.

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.