Ameriprise Financial Inc. Raises Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 432,294 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 10,546 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.37% of Eastman Chemical worth $39,497,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 323 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 384.4% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 373 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on EMN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (down from $112.00) on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Monday, April 28th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Eastman Chemical from $120.00 to $106.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays cut their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $108.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Eastman Chemical from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Bank of America raised Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.15.

Eastman Chemical Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock opened at $77.48 on Monday. 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 52-week low of $70.90 and a 52-week high of $114.50. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $83.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.29.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The company’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 42.24%.

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.