Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Stock Rating Lowered by Jefferies Financial Group

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN – Get Rating) was downgraded by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, The Fly reports. They presently have a $87.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $150.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target points to a potential downside of 8.47% from the company’s current price. The analysts noted that the move was a valuation call.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $130.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Monday, May 2nd. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $150.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 5th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $124.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical to $155.00 in a report on Monday, May 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.87.

NYSE:EMN opened at $95.05 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.56, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.43. Eastman Chemical has a 1-year low of $93.47 and a 1-year high of $129.48. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $105.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 7.59%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 9.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EMN. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 60.0% in the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the first quarter worth about $28,000. David J Yvars Group purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Ulland Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 87.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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