West Michigan Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

West Michigan Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 259 shares during the period. West Michigan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 340,562 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 282,458 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 177,207 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 129,112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 126,301 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup downgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.08.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Eastman Chemical stock opened at $97.81 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $94.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.29. 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 12 month low of $86.59 and a 12 month high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.23%.

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.