PGGM Investments Decreases Stock Holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

PGGM Investments cut its stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 16.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,450 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 704 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY acquired a new position in Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter worth approximately $205,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth $812,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 99,419 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,930,000 after purchasing an additional 14,898 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth $8,592,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,795,824 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $214,496,000 after buying an additional 760,974 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EMN opened at $97.34 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.56. The stock has a market cap of $11.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 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 has a fifty-two week low of $68.89 and a fifty-two week high of $102.71.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 10.16% and a return on equity of 13.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Eastman Chemical in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $95.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $125.00 in a report on Monday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.41.

Insider Activity at Eastman Chemical

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