Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Shares Sold by IFM Investors Pty Ltd

IFM Investors Pty Ltd decreased its stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 6.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,925 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,491 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $2,298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 8.8% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Eastman Chemical during the 3rd quarter worth $234,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 216.2% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 34,284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,630,000 after acquiring an additional 23,441 shares during the period. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the 3rd quarter valued at $126,000. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 46.9% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 20,721 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,590,000 after purchasing an additional 6,616 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

NYSE EMN traded down $0.57 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $95.56. 1,337,744 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 837,267. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $93.98 and a 200-day moving average of $86.39. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $68.89 and a one year high of $102.71. The stock has a market cap of $11.24 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.20. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 13.95% and a net margin of 10.16%. The business had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 41.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EMN has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Mizuho raised their target price on Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $95.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.31.

Eastman Chemical 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.