PGGM Investments Cuts Stock Holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

PGGM Investments lessened its position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 16.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,450 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 704 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 37.4% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 274.5% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 249,104 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,375,000 after purchasing an additional 391,848 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 1,031.0% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 333,655 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,598,000 after buying an additional 304,155 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,807,691 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $138,686,000 after buying an additional 299,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 54.4% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on EMN shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 5th. Citigroup increased their price target on Eastman Chemical from $95.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com lowered Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.75, for a total value of $415,496.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

EMN opened at $97.34 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $93.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.56. Eastman Chemical has a 12-month low of $68.89 and a 12-month high of $102.71. The firm has a market cap of $11.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.54, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 10.16% and a return on equity of 13.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.75%.

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.