Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 6,200 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lowered its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 20.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 6,200 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $2,164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of EMN. Cumberland Partners Ltd grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 63,125 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,765,000 after acquiring an additional 11,590 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,296 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,870 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 9,268 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $846,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 57.5% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 5,451 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 1,990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,409,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EMN opened at $98.88 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.51. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.33. The firm has a market cap of $11.39 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.44. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $85.28 and a one year high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 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 analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on EMN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 18th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.08.

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.