Blue Trust Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 21.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 712 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $408,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,839,723 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,332,904,000 after acquiring an additional 61,580 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 649.8% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,511,466 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $452,139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,909,740 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 4,355,408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $391,203,000 after purchasing an additional 168,038 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,575,783 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $231,357,000 after purchasing an additional 168,009 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 11.0% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,199,943 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $220,478,000 after purchasing an additional 217,720 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastman Chemical

In other Eastman Chemical 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of EMN stock traded down $0.65 on Friday, reaching $97.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 652,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 982,839. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Eastman Chemical has a 12-month low of $68.89 and a 12-month high of $105.98. The company has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.60, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.46. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.54.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.14. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 9.65%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 41.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EMN has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Eastman Chemical from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Mizuho raised their price target on Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $106.00 to $128.00 in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.07.

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.