Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Raises Stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 11.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,384 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $1,610,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Eastman Chemical during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 238.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Eastman Chemical during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Eastman Chemical during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in Eastman Chemical during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 value of $471,623.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $466,013.52. The trade was a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948 in the last three months. 2.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Bank of America lowered Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $114.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho upped their target price on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.86.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of EMN opened at $104.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.95, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $106.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Eastman Chemical has a 12 month low of $80.71 and a 12 month high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 15.37% and a net margin of 9.47%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.47 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

About Eastman Chemical

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.