Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Grows Stock Holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 18.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 94.7% in 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 acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 784.4% in the 3rd 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. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EMN opened at $100.99 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $83.38 and a 52 week high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.40%. On average, equities analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on EMN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. 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 research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. 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 research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.08.

Insider Activity at Eastman Chemical

In related news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total value of $471,623.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $466,013.52. This represents a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,965,135. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.