Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $99.15.

Several research firms have weighed in on EMN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (down previously from $112.00) on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $105.00 to $101.00 in a report on Friday, April 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Mizuho raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $125.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EMN. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 323 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 384.4% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 373 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of EMN stock opened at $80.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The business’s 50 day moving average is $80.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.28. Eastman Chemical has a twelve month low of $70.90 and a twelve month high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.35 billion. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.61 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.24%.

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.