Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Stake Raised by NewSquare Capital LLC

NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) by 72,067.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,857 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 41,799 shares during the period. NewSquare Capital LLC's holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $3,688,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 697,388 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 10.8% in 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 stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 11.1% in 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 increased 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 worth $259,669,000 after buying an additional 109,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 worth $257,986,000 after purchasing an additional 48,491 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 traded down $1.16 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $78.88. 1,446,818 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,163,623. Eastman Chemical has a 1-year low of $70.90 and a 1-year high of $114.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.11 billion, a PE ratio of 10.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.51. The business's 50 day moving average price is $78.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.30.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.61 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Eastman Chemical's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $125.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Mizuho raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $120.00 to $106.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $108.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.