Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.83

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.83 per share by the basic materials company on Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%.

Eastman Chemical has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.8% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Eastman Chemical has a payout ratio of 35.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Eastman Chemical to earn $9.53 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.8%.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

EMN stock opened at $101.64 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $94.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.18. Eastman Chemical has a 12-month low of $81.76 and a 12-month high of $114.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.23, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. 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, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.40%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EMN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup cut shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $118.00 to $104.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.77.

Insider Transactions at Eastman Chemical

In related news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $1,102,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $466,013.52. The trade was a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

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.