GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases New Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 955 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 213.8% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EMN. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Eastman Chemical in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.41.

Insider Transactions at Eastman Chemical

In related news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Eastman Chemical Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:EMN opened at $97.34 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $93.98 and its 200-day moving average is $86.56. Eastman Chemical has a 52-week low of $68.89 and a 52-week high of $102.71. The company has a market cap of $11.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.54, 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 quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.35.

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

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 3.33%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.75%.

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.