Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,166 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,926 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $4,672,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 3rd quarter valued at $236,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical during the third quarter valued at $219,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 11.2% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 4,951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in Eastman Chemical by 3.8% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 24,701 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,765,000 after buying an additional 903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the third quarter worth about $273,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

NYSE EMN opened at $88.35 on Thursday. 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 has a 1-year low of $85.84 and a 1-year high of $114.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.18 billion, a PE ratio of 11.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43.

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

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 43.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.08.

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.