CX Institutional Purchases New Stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

CX Institutional bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $107,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EMN. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 11.7% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,961 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 61,251 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,593,000 after buying an additional 12,461 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR acquired a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth approximately $262,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter valued at $1,543,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 384.4% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE EMN opened at $77.01 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $8.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.03, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.25. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $79.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.50. Eastman Chemical has a 12 month low of $70.90 and a 12 month high of $114.50.

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

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.31%. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is presently 42.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EMN. UBS Group cut their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Eastman Chemical from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $76.00 price target (down previously from $112.00) on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays decreased their price target on Eastman Chemical from $108.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Eastman Chemical from $125.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.54.

About Eastman Chemical

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.