Sterling Capital Management LLC Increases Holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 55.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,931 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,472 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 315,044 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,268,000 after purchasing an additional 10,695 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 26,008 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,746,000 after acquiring an additional 4,606 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $656,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,219,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $593,233,000 after purchasing an additional 282,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IMS Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the third quarter valued at $280,000. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

NYSE:EMN opened at $76.89 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.63. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $8.86 billion, a PE ratio of 10.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.38.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho raised Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.08.

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.