Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Holdings Lifted by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 672 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $3,826,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,505 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $503,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 0.9% during the third quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,520,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 9,268 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $846,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Finally, Verity Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EMN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho increased their price target 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. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.08.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EMN opened at $97.81 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.44. The business has a 50-day moving average of $94.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.35. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $86.59 and a fifty-two week high of $114.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 9.65%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.23%.

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.