Truist Financial Corp Purchases 92,162 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Truist Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,158,107 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 92,162 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $105,758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 3.8% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 3.3% during the third quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 3,434 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. RKL Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 2.0% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EMN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.08.

Insider Activity at Eastman Chemical

In related news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $1,102,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total transaction of $471,623.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $466,013.52. The trade was a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Eastman Chemical Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of EMN stock opened at $100.99 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $83.38 and a one year high of $114.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $94.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.40%. Sell-side analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 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.