Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Buys 15,859 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 10.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 161,931 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 15,859 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $16,229,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EMN. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 27,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,464,000 after buying an additional 947 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 35.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 782 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Eastman Chemical by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 7,530 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $650,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 154.3% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Eastman Chemical by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 41,851 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,759,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 1,975 shares of the 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Eastman Chemical news, CEO Mark J. Costa sold 102,390 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 395,699 shares in the company, valued at $39,878,545.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 1,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.22, for a total transaction of $195,959.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 108,027 shares of company stock valued at $10,885,638 in the last quarter. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Eastman Chemical Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of EMN stock traded up $1.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $104.29. 252,695 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 977,153. The company has a market capitalization of $12.19 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.46. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $68.89 and a 52 week high of $105.98. The business has a 50 day moving average of $98.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.67. 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 (NYSE:EMN) last released its 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 9.65%. The company’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.99 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 7.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 41.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EMN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $103.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.50.

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.