Norges Bank Takes Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,356,573 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $121,847,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.14% of Eastman Chemical as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of the company’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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of the company’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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark J. Costa sold 102,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 395,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,878,545.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 110,787 shares of company stock worth $11,105,175. 1.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EMN shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $95.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $106.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.24.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

EMN opened at $99.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.76, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.54. Eastman Chemical has a 1-year low of $68.89 and a 1-year high of $102.71. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. Eastman Chemical’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is 41.75%.

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.