J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 37.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,795,824 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $214,496,000 after acquiring an additional 760,974 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 274.5% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 249,104 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,375,000 after acquiring an additional 391,848 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1,031.0% during the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 333,655 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,598,000 after acquiring an additional 304,155 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 19.9% during the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,807,691 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $138,686,000 after acquiring an additional 299,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 54.4% during the third quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 594,789 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $46,099,000 after acquiring an additional 209,644 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on EMN shares. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $95.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.81.

Insider Transactions at Eastman Chemical

In related news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.75, for a total transaction of $415,496.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of EMN stock opened at $96.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.83, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.54. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $68.89 and a 52 week high of $102.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $93.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.16.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.03. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is presently 43.26%.

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.