Invenomic Capital Management LP Lowers Holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Invenomic Capital Management LP trimmed its holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 21.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 34,788 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 9,562 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $3,177,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EMN. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 315,044 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,268,000 after buying an additional 10,695 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 6.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 148,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,588,000 after acquiring an additional 9,447 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,383,000 after acquiring an additional 777 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 25,133 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,295,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooper Financial Group grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 3,725 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Mizuho raised Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup raised Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the company from $105.00 to $101.00 in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Eastman Chemical from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $123.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.15.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

NYSE EMN opened at $77.48 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Eastman Chemical has a 1 year low of $70.90 and a 1 year high of $114.50. The company has a market capitalization of $8.95 billion, a PE ratio of 10.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a fifty day moving average of $83.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.64.

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

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.28%. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is currently 42.24%.

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.