Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Holdings Lifted by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 91,169 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,671 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $8,189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EMN. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth approximately $205,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter worth $812,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth $8,592,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 37.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,795,824 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $214,496,000 after purchasing an additional 760,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 1.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,079,130 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $82,791,000 after purchasing an additional 19,450 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was 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 available through this link. 2.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EMN shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Eastman Chemical from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $95.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Eastman Chemical from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Eastman Chemical in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.81.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

EMN traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $96.28. 435,660 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,073,376. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $68.89 and a one year high of $102.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.54. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.93. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.03. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 9.71%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. Eastman Chemical’s quarterly revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.26%.

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.