Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,033 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 111 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. James J. Burns & Company LLC purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth $741,000. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth $3,319,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 492.9% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 213,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,863,000 after purchasing an additional 177,207 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 21.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 110,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,383,000 after purchasing an additional 19,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 6.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 148,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,588,000 after purchasing an additional 9,447 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on EMN. Bank of America upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 18th. Citigroup downgraded Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.08.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

NYSE EMN opened at $98.15 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $94.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.31. Eastman Chemical has a twelve month low of $85.28 and a twelve month high of $114.50. The company has a market capitalization of $11.30 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 9.65%. On average, research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.