StockNews.com Downgrades Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) to Hold

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

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on EMN. KeyCorp boosted their target price 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. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Eastman Chemical in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho upped their target price on Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group lifted their price target on Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $125.00 in a report on Monday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.41.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

NYSE:EMN traded up $1.78 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $97.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,308,256 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,094,609. Eastman Chemical has a twelve month low of $68.89 and a twelve month high of $102.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.56. The company has a market capitalization of $11.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.54, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.54.

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

Insider Activity at Eastman Chemical

In other news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.75, for a total value of $415,496.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter worth approximately $121,847,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 37.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,795,824 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $214,496,000 after purchasing an additional 760,974 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new stake in Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter worth $54,047,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 274.5% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 249,104 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,375,000 after purchasing an additional 391,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1,031.0% during the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 333,655 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,598,000 after purchasing an additional 304,155 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is currently 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.