Handelsbanken Fonder AB Lowers Stock Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lowered its position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 66.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 34,208 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $1,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Eastman Chemical during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 213.8% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 426.6% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of EMN opened at $95.56 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.39. The company has a market capitalization of $11.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.70. Eastman Chemical has a 1-year low of $68.89 and a 1-year high of $102.71.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction that occurred 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EMN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $95.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.