South Dakota Investment Council Sells 854 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

South Dakota Investment Council reduced its position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 854 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council owned approximately 0.07% of Eastman Chemical worth $6,889,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position 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 worth $37,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 916 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 924 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EMN opened at $98.63 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $94.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.24. Eastman Chemical has a twelve month low of $85.28 and a twelve month high of $114.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.36 billion, a PE ratio of 12.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.44.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.27%. Equities research analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is 43.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EMN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. 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. KeyCorp upped their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.08.

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.