PGGM Investments Acquires 679 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

PGGM Investments lifted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 19.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,129 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EMN. Lcnb Corp increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Lcnb Corp now owns 6,275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $629,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,639 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3.3% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,525 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 3,452 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 1.6% during the first quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 10,562 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Eastman Chemical stock opened at $97.49 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $99.00 and a 200-day moving average of $94.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Eastman Chemical has a 1 year low of $68.89 and a 1 year high of $105.98. The company has a market capitalization of $11.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.46.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 13.94%. The company’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.99 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is presently 41.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on EMN. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 1,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.22, for a total transaction of $195,959.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark J. Costa sold 102,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total value of $10,318,864.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 395,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,878,545.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 1,975 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.22, for a total transaction of $195,959.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 108,027 shares of company stock valued at $10,885,638. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.