Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Downgraded to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on EMN. Citigroup raised Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $105.00 to $101.00 in a report on Friday, April 4th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America raised Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $123.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.64.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock opened at $75.69 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.51. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $70.90 and a 52 week high of $114.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $86.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.72 billion, a PE ratio of 9.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.38.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 9.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is 42.24%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,886,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $537,561,000 after purchasing an additional 697,388 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,785,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $528,310,000 after purchasing an additional 565,821 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,844,165 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $259,729,000 after acquiring an additional 284,271 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,843,506 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $259,669,000 after acquiring an additional 109,316 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,832,593 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $257,986,000 after acquiring an additional 48,491 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.