Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $112.92.

Several brokerages have commented on EMN. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Citigroup cut Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $118.00 to $104.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

NYSE:EMN opened at $93.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $95.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.15. Eastman Chemical has a 1-year low of $80.71 and a 1-year high of $114.50. The firm has a market cap of $10.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.44.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.12. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.6 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. This is a positive change from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $321,405.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,298,430. This represents a 19.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total value of $471,623.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $466,013.52. The trade was a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,021 shares of company stock valued at $1,895,948 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eastman Chemical

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 4.3% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 3.3% during the third quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 3,434 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. RKL Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 0.9% during the third quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 2.0% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

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.