Earnest Partners LLC Has $208.01 Million Stock Holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,277,827 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 35,793 shares during the quarter. Eastman Chemical accounts for 0.9% of Earnest Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Earnest Partners LLC owned about 1.97% of Eastman Chemical worth $208,011,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 315,044 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,268,000 after buying an additional 10,695 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the third quarter valued at about $656,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,219,438 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $593,233,000 after buying an additional 282,458 shares in the last quarter. IMS Capital Management acquired a new stake in Eastman Chemical in the 3rd quarter valued at about $280,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 6.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 148,176 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $16,588,000 after purchasing an additional 9,447 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EMN traded up $2.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $78.35. 783,247 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,041,562. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.20, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.29. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $70.90 and a 52 week high of $114.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company's 50 day moving average is $85.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.16.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.02. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. Eastman Chemical's payout ratio is 42.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EMN. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Eastman Chemical from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Bank of America raised Eastman Chemical from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays dropped their price target on Eastman Chemical from $108.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $123.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.15.

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.