Investors Buy High Volume of Eastman Chemical Call Options (NYSE:EMN)

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors acquired 3,004 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 674% compared to the average volume of 388 call options.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 1.5 %

EMN traded down $1.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $88.57. The company had a trading volume of 507,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 907,078. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $86.70 and a 52 week high of $114.50. The stock has a market cap of $10.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.53, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.79.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.27%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 43.23%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. James J. Burns & Company LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth $741,000. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,319,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 492.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 213,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,863,000 after acquiring an additional 177,207 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 44,675 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,081,000 after acquiring an additional 5,700 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,734,190 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $306,093,000 after acquiring an additional 83,504 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on EMN. KeyCorp raised their price target on Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group decreased their target price on Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.08.

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.