Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Lifted to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Monday, MarketBeat reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $125.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $102.00.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on EMN. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. They issued a buy rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $103.12.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

NYSE EMN opened at $94.76 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Eastman Chemical has a 12-month low of $68.89 and a 12-month high of $102.71. The company has a market capitalization of $11.15 billion, a PE ratio of 12.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $94.60 and its 200-day moving average is $86.94.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.20. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 10.16% and a return on equity of 13.84%. The company had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.75%.

Insider Activity at Eastman Chemical

In related news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of the business’s 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EMN. Czech National Bank raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 46.9% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 20,721 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,590,000 after acquiring an additional 6,616 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 15.9% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,235 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $325,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 6.4% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 76,744 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,888,000 after acquiring an additional 4,626 shares in the last quarter. Edmp Inc. raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 75.3% during the third quarter. Edmp Inc. now owns 4,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 2,011 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accurate Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 9.6% during the third quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,065 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

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.