Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Reaches New 1-Year High at $100.75

Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $100.75 and last traded at $100.14, with a volume of 133210 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $100.30.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on EMN. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $96.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Thursday, February 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.75.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.56. The firm has a market cap of $11.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.54. 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 (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.21 billion. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The company’s revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.26%.

Insider Transactions at Eastman Chemical

In other news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.75, for a total transaction of $415,496.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eastman Chemical

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EMN. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 17,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 18,628 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,087,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 6,098 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 4,380 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $491,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 200,656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,546,000 after acquiring an additional 28,338 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

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.