Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Cuts Stock Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 45,771 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,287 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $5,124,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EMN. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 50.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 59,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,677,000 after buying an additional 20,056 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 97.5% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 108,936 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,195,000 after acquiring an additional 53,780 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 94.7% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 439,656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,219,000 after purchasing an additional 42,067 shares during the last quarter. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 3rd quarter valued at $924,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America cut shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $114.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.46.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

NYSE EMN opened at $98.50 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.42 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.42. Eastman Chemical has a twelve month low of $80.71 and a twelve month high of $114.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.12. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.38 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.47 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. This is a boost from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is 43.37%.

Insider Transactions at Eastman Chemical

In related news, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $321,405.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,298,430. This represents a 19.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total transaction of $471,623.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $466,013.52. This represents a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical 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.