Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Hits New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $125.00 to $90.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Eastman Chemical traded as low as $70.90 and last traded at $72.42, with a volume of 3852816 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $73.65.

EMN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 18th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $101.00 in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 323 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 384.4% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 373 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Stock Down 6.8 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $92.48 and its 200-day moving average is $97.47. The firm has a market cap of $8.75 billion, a PE ratio of 9.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.38. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.37%. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is currently 43.23%.

About Eastman Chemical

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.