Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup

Citigroup downgraded shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Citigroup currently has $104.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $118.00.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on EMN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America lowered Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $114.00 to $119.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $113.92.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

EMN stock opened at $91.76 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $103.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.56. Eastman Chemical has a 12-month low of $80.71 and a 12-month high of $114.50. The firm has a market cap of $10.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.28, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.42.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 15.37% and a net margin of 9.47%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.47 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is 44.44%.

Insider Transactions at Eastman Chemical

In related news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total value of $471,623.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $466,013.52. This trade represents a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $1,102,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,287 shares in the company, valued at $4,965,135. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eastman Chemical

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EMN. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 148,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,588,000 after acquiring an additional 9,447 shares during the period. IMS Capital Management purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the 3rd quarter worth about $280,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,219,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $593,233,000 after purchasing an additional 282,458 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical during the 3rd quarter valued at about $656,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 21.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 26,008 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,746,000 after buying an additional 4,606 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.65% 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.