Principal Securities Inc. Invests $94,000 in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,043 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,978,856 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $305,258,000 after purchasing an additional 39,860 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased 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 worth $214,496,000 after acquiring an additional 760,974 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,407,774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $184,724,000 after acquiring an additional 51,788 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $138,686,000 after acquiring an additional 299,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,328,396 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $101,915,000 after purchasing an additional 23,009 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE EMN opened at $99.95 on Wednesday. Eastman Chemical has a twelve month low of $68.89 and a twelve month high of $102.71. The firm has a market cap of $11.76 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.54. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on EMN shares. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.18.

Insider Activity at Eastman Chemical

In other Eastman Chemical news, CEO Mark J. Costa sold 102,390 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total transaction of $10,318,864.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 395,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,878,545.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Eastman Chemical news, CEO Mark J. Costa sold 102,390 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total transaction of $10,318,864.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 395,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,878,545.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was 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 have sold a total of 110,787 shares of company stock valued at $11,105,175 over the last ninety days. 2.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.