Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Stake Boosted by WCM Investment Management LLC

WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 67.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,589 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,259 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 238.1% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 94.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 784.4% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 681 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EMN. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.54.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of EMN opened at $99.04 on Tuesday. 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 has a 1-year low of $81.00 and a 1-year high of $114.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $94.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.16.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 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%. Analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastman Chemical

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total value 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. This represents a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $1,102,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

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.