Russell Investments Group Ltd. Trims Stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 139,590 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 18,894 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.12% of Eastman Chemical worth $12,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 213.8% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 426.6% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Trading Up 1.6 %

EMN opened at $97.50 on Friday. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $68.89 and a one year high of $102.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.56, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.54.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 10.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $125.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.75, for a total transaction of $415,496.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.