Xponance Inc. Trims Stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Xponance Inc. cut its position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,798 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $1,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Eastman Chemical in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in Eastman Chemical by 213.8% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 426.6% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

NYSE EMN opened at $96.36 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $11.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $93.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.09. Eastman Chemical has a 1 year low of $68.89 and a 1 year high of $102.71.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.03. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 9.71%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.21 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is currently 43.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EMN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $95.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. KeyCorp increased their target price on Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Eastman Chemical in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.75, for a total transaction of $415,496.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.