Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) by 5.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 155,509 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,708 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Eastman Chemical worth $13,702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at $137,848,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at $137,416,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,886,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $537,561,000 after purchasing an additional 697,388 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,785,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $528,310,000 after purchasing an additional 565,821 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 11,261.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 476,939 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $42,023,000 after purchasing an additional 472,741 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eastman Chemical Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock opened at $80.29 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.22, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.22. Eastman Chemical Company has a twelve month low of $70.90 and a twelve month high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.35 billion. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 9.85%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical Company will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 42.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on EMN shares. Citigroup raised Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $105.00 to $101.00 in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Mizuho raised Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Eastman Chemical from $112.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Six research 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.08.

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.