Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders acquired 3,004 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 674% compared to the average daily volume of 388 call options.

Eastman Chemical Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock traded down $1.31 during trading on Friday, hitting $88.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 507,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 907,078. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $86.70 and a 52 week high of $114.50. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.79. The company has a market capitalization of $10.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share (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 16.27%. Equities research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders 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 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 43.23%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EMN. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 323 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 384.4% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 373 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 94.7% during the third 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EMN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lowered 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup downgraded Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $118.00 to $104.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 18th. Six equities research 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.08.

Eastman Chemical Company 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.