Fruth Investment Management Reduces Holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Fruth Investment Management lowered its stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,550 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Fruth Investment Management’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $598,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in Eastman Chemical by 238.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 94.7% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 784.4% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 681 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.54.

Eastman Chemical Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:EMN opened at $101.85 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a 50 day moving average of $94.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.08. Eastman Chemical has a 52-week low of $81.00 and a 52-week high of $114.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.40%. As a group, analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.83 dividend. This is a boost from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 43.23%.

Insider Activity at Eastman Chemical

In other news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total transaction of $471,623.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $466,013.52. This trade represents a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $1,102,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.