Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,033 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 111 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $734,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 57.2% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 935,732 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $104,755,000 after buying an additional 340,562 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 5.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,219,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $593,233,000 after buying an additional 282,458 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 492.9% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 213,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,863,000 after buying an additional 177,207 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 443.1% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 158,253 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,716,000 after buying an additional 129,112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 15.4% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 947,473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $106,070,000 after buying an additional 126,301 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup downgraded Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp increased 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. Barclays reduced their price target on Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven 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 $114.08.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:EMN opened at $98.15 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The business’s 50 day moving average is $94.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.31. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $85.28 and a 52 week high of $114.50. The company has a market cap of $11.30 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.44.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its 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 return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 9.65%. On average, analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.23%.

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.