Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 8,798 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Lazard Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 154,579 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 8,798 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 0.13% of Eastman Chemical worth $14,115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 837 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,505 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $503,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 62.3% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 323 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,196 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 9,268 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $846,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on EMN shares. Citigroup raised Eastman Chemical from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $105.00 to $101.00 in a research note on Friday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $112.00 to $87.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Mizuho raised Eastman Chemical from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $108.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $99.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $99.15.

Eastman Chemical Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE EMN traded up $1.28 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $82.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,162,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,072,956. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The business's 50 day moving average is $81.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.00. Eastman Chemical has a 12-month low of $70.90 and a 12-month high of $114.50. The firm has a market cap of $9.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.29.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.35 billion. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 9.65%. Eastman Chemical's quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.61 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.02%. Eastman Chemical's payout ratio is currently 42.24%.

Eastman Chemical 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.