KBC Group NV Cuts Position in Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN)

KBC Group NV lessened its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) by 7.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,065 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 3,506 shares during the period. KBC Group NV's holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $3,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 323 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 384.4% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 373 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 135.7% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 528 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of EMN stock traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $80.06. The company had a trading volume of 798,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,237,446. Eastman Chemical Company has a 52-week low of $70.90 and a 52-week high of $114.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $78.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.50. The stock has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.19, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.22.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.85% and a return on equity of 16.59%. Eastman Chemical's quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.61 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical Company will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on EMN shares. Citigroup raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $101.00 in a research report on Friday, April 4th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $120.00 to $106.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (down previously from $112.00) on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $108.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $99.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $98.54.

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.