Greenleaf Trust Sells 175 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Greenleaf Trust cut its stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,470 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 175 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1,104.3% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 933,984 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $104,560,000 after purchasing an additional 856,432 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 57.2% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 935,732 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $104,755,000 after purchasing an additional 340,562 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 5.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,219,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $593,233,000 after purchasing an additional 282,458 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 492.9% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 213,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,863,000 after purchasing an additional 177,207 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 443.1% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 158,253 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,716,000 after acquiring an additional 129,112 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on EMN shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America raised Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total value of $471,623.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $466,013.52. This represents a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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 approximately $4,965,135. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of EMN opened at $101.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $94.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.07. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $80.89 and a one year high of $114.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.52. The stock has a market cap of $11.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.44.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 9.65%. As a group, research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 8.46 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.