Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on EMN. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $102.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Monday, April 29th. 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 note on Monday, February 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic assumed 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.18.

Eastman Chemical Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE EMN opened at $100.73 on Monday. Eastman Chemical has a 1-year low of $68.89 and a 1-year high of $102.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $96.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.83. The company has a market capitalization of $11.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.54.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.75, for a total value of $415,496.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mark J. Costa sold 102,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total value of $10,318,864.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 395,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,878,545.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.75, for a total transaction of $415,496.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 110,787 shares of company stock valued at $11,105,175 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 649.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,511,466 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $452,139,000 after acquiring an additional 3,909,740 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 66,304 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,645,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Vident Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the 1st quarter worth about $14,357,000. Finally, Natixis lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 425.3% during the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 25,679 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,574,000 after buying an additional 20,791 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.