Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 14,400 Shares of Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its position in shares of Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) by 15.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,529 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 14,400 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.07% of Eastman Chemical worth $7,007,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 323 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 384.4% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 373 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 135.7% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 528 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EMN. Mizuho upgraded Eastman Chemical from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on 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 dropped 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 decreased their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $108.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Eastman Chemical from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $91.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $98.54.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Eastman Chemical stock traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $75.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 282,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,204,473. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $78.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.25. Eastman Chemical Company has a twelve month low of $70.59 and a twelve month high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during 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 company's revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.61 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical Company will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. Eastman Chemical's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.24%.

Eastman Chemical Company 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.