Xponance Inc. Lowers Stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Xponance Inc. cut its stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,798 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $1,395,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 10,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $949,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 2,393 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth $214,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 35.5% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 56,577 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,082,000 after purchasing an additional 14,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 274.5% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 249,104 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,375,000 after buying an additional 391,848 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastman Chemical

In related 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 value of $415,496.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.27% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 0.5 %

EMN opened at $96.36 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $68.89 and a 52 week high of $102.71. The stock has a market cap of $11.33 billion, a PE ratio of 12.87, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.54. The business has a 50 day moving average of $93.27 and a 200-day moving average of $86.09.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.21 billion. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 9.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EMN shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $95.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.81.

Eastman Chemical 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.