Swiss National Bank Cuts Stock Holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Swiss National Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 371,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 12,000 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.31% of Eastman Chemical worth $33,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in EMN. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $205,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 17,426 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,565,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 212,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $19,055,000 after acquiring an additional 17,089 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 133.8% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 36,707 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,297,000 after purchasing an additional 21,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Altrius Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 41,711 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,746,000 after buying an additional 1,011 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

EMN stock opened at $100.64 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.97, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $95.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.39. Eastman Chemical has a 52-week low of $68.89 and a 52-week high of $102.71.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its 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. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 10.16%. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on EMN shares. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $85.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target 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 research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Eastman Chemical from $95.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.18.

Insider Activity

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of the business’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 accessible through the SEC website. 2.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.