First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Sells 2,778 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. cut its holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 3.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 72,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,778 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. owned approximately 0.06% of Eastman Chemical worth $8,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $376,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth about $214,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,378 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the first quarter valued at about $125,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $864,000 after buying an additional 757 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on EMN shares. StockNews.com upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho lifted their target price on Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $114.00 to $119.00 in a report on Wednesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.20.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 0.5 %

EMN opened at $108.85 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.81 billion, a PE ratio of 14.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $68.89 and a fifty-two week high of $114.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $103.89 and its 200 day moving average is $100.52.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 9.65%. Eastman Chemical’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.75%.

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.