Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) Shares Sold by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) by 70.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,153 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 12,444 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $453,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth approximately $150,537,000. Capital World Investors bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth $137,848,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter valued at about $137,416,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 3,136.8% in the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 736,011 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $67,213,000 after acquiring an additional 713,272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Eastman Chemical by 13.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 697,388 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of EMN stock traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $80.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 798,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,237,446. Eastman Chemical Company has a 12-month low of $70.90 and a 12-month high of $114.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a PE ratio of 10.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50 day moving average of $78.50 and a 200 day moving average of $86.50.

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 business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 9.85%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.61 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical Company will post 8.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.15%. Eastman Chemical's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on EMN shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Eastman Chemical from $125.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $108.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $99.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Eastman Chemical from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $112.00 to $87.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company 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, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $98.54.

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.