QSM Asset Management Ltd Takes Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

QSM Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 66,457 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $6,052,000. Eastman Chemical comprises 5.2% of QSM Asset Management Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. QSM Asset Management Ltd owned approximately 0.06% of Eastman Chemical as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EMN. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Eastman Chemical by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,886,564 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $537,561,000 after buying an additional 697,388 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Eastman Chemical by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,785,259 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $528,310,000 after buying an additional 565,821 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Eastman Chemical by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,844,165 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $259,729,000 after buying an additional 284,271 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,843,506 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $259,669,000 after buying an additional 109,316 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,832,593 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $257,986,000 after buying an additional 48,491 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EMN has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Eastman Chemical from $120.00 to $106.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $91.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $125.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and set a $76.00 price target (down from $112.00) on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $98.54.

Eastman Chemical Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE EMN traded up $0.64 on Thursday, reaching $81.61. 1,406,790 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,100,764. Eastman Chemical has a 12 month low of $70.90 and a 12 month high of $114.50. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $80.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.84. The company has a market cap of $9.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $2.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.61 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Eastman Chemical's dividend 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.