Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Sets New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Thursday . The company traded as low as $81.19 and last traded at $81.41, with a volume of 340899 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $88.29.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EMN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 18th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. Bank of America raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $113.08.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $9.25 billion, a PE ratio of 10.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $95.36 and a 200-day moving average of $99.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.23%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EMN. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at about $150,537,000. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $137,848,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $137,416,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 3,136.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 736,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $67,213,000 after acquiring an additional 713,272 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,886,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $537,561,000 after acquiring an additional 697,388 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.