Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Rating Increased to Buy at UBS Group

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) was upgraded by analysts at UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Briefing.com reports. The firm currently has a $128.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $106.00. UBS Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 28.77% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $85.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $95.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Mizuho upped 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, April 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Eastman Chemical from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.24.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

EMN opened at $99.40 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.78. Eastman Chemical has a 52-week low of $68.89 and a 52-week high of $102.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.69 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.54.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 10.16% and a return on equity of 13.84%. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastman Chemical

In other news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 3,662 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total value of $370,814.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Eastman Chemical news, CEO Mark J. Costa sold 102,390 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total value of $10,318,864.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 395,699 shares in the company, valued at $39,878,545.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 3,662 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total value of $370,814.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 110,787 shares of company stock valued at $11,105,175. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Eastman Chemical in the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 213.8% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 278 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.