Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Has $388,000 Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lowered its position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 8.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,871 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 353 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,839,723 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,332,904,000 after purchasing an additional 61,580 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 649.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,511,466 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $452,139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,909,740 shares in the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 4,355,408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $391,203,000 after purchasing an additional 168,038 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,575,783 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $231,357,000 after purchasing an additional 168,009 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth about $121,847,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Eastman Chemical

In other news, CEO Mark J. Costa sold 102,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total value of $10,318,864.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 395,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,878,545.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 1,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.22, for a total transaction of $195,959.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark J. Costa sold 102,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total transaction of $10,318,864.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 395,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,878,545.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 108,027 shares of company stock worth $10,885,638. Company insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:EMN traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $101.34. 378,116 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 977,588. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $68.89 and a fifty-two week high of $105.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.46.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.99 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th were given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EMN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $103.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $108.75.

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.