Short Interest in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Declines By 22.4%

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN – Get Rating) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,560,000 shares, a drop of 22.4% from the March 15th total of 2,010,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,300,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Shares of NYSE:EMN opened at $107.91 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Eastman Chemical has a twelve month low of $98.24 and a twelve month high of $130.47. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $113.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.74.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 19.93%. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 9.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 15th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 14th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 48.25%.

In related news, SVP Mark K. Cox sold 4,858 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.79, for a total value of $586,797.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 14,738 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.75, for a total transaction of $1,809,089.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 60.0% in the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. David J Yvars Group acquired a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 292.5% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 263 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. 82.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EMN. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $142.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 11th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $126.00 to $118.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $138.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 6th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $150.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 5th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

Eastman Chemical Company Profile (Get Rating)

Eastman Chemical Company operates as a specialty materials company in the United States and internationally. The company's Additives & Functional Products segment offers hydrocarbon and rosin resins; organic acid-based solutions; amine derivative-based building blocks; metam-based soil fumigants, thiram and ziram based fungicides, and plant growth regulators; specialty coalescent, specialty and commodity solvents, paint additives, and specialty polymers; heat transfer and aviation fluids; insoluble sulfur and anti-degradant rubber additives; and performance resins.

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