William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. Purchases Shares of 43,537 Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 43,537 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,265,000. Eastman Chemical comprises about 2.8% of William B. Walkup & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,839,723 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,332,904,000 after acquiring an additional 61,580 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 649.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,511,466 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $452,139,000 after buying an additional 3,909,740 shares in the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 4,355,408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $391,203,000 after buying an additional 168,038 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,280,699 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $223,435,000 after buying an additional 198,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,240,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $219,454,000 after buying an additional 40,070 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $103.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.07.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

EMN stock opened at $112.38 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s 50-day moving average is $100.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.22. Eastman Chemical has a 1 year low of $68.89 and a 1 year high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.14. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 9.65%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.99 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 7.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.75%.

Eastman Chemical Company 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.