IFM Investors Pty Ltd Reduces Holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lessened its holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 6.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 22,925 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,491 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $2,298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,839,723 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,332,904,000 after buying an additional 61,580 shares during the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 4,355,408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $391,203,000 after acquiring an additional 168,038 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,978,856 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $305,258,000 after acquiring an additional 39,860 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 37.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,795,824 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $214,496,000 after acquiring an additional 760,974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,575,783 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $231,357,000 after purchasing an additional 168,009 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of EMN stock traded down $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $95.56. 1,337,744 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 837,267. Eastman Chemical has a 12 month low of $68.89 and a 12 month high of $102.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $93.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.24 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.20. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 13.95% and a net margin of 10.16%. The business had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Eastman Chemical’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is currently 41.75%.

Insider Transactions at Eastman Chemical

In related news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of Eastman Chemical 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on EMN. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp raised 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. Citigroup upped their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $95.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Eastman Chemical from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Eastman Chemical in a report on Thursday, February 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.31.

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.