ING Groep NV Has $1.35 Million Stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

ING Groep NV reduced its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 91.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,805 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 157,829 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $1,352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 57.2% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 935,732 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $104,755,000 after purchasing an additional 340,562 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 5.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,219,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $593,233,000 after acquiring an additional 282,458 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 492.9% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 213,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,863,000 after purchasing an additional 177,207 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 443.1% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 158,253 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,716,000 after purchasing an additional 129,112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 947,473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $106,070,000 after purchasing an additional 126,301 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on EMN. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup downgraded Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Mizuho lifted 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, November 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.08.

Insider Transactions at Eastman Chemical

In other Eastman Chemical news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,287 shares in the company, valued at $4,965,135. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $466,013.52. The trade was a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of EMN opened at $98.63 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $94.42 and a 200 day moving average of $100.29. 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 12 month low of $85.28 and a 12 month high of $114.50. The company has a market capitalization of $11.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.44.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 9.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.