Forsta AP Fonden Lowers Stock Position in Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN)

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden has reduced its stake in Eastman Chemical Company by 25.2%, resulting in ownership of 24,900 shares valued at approximately $2.19 million.
• Eastman Chemical's stock has seen analysts downgrade ratings and target prices, with Barclays cutting their target from $108 to $85, while the stock has a current consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, yielding around 5.2%, which reflects a payout ratio of 46.63%.

Forsta AP Fonden reduced its stake in Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) by 25.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,900 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 8,400 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $2,194,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth approximately $137,848,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 13.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 11,261.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 476,939 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $42,023,000 after purchasing an additional 472,741 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 74.5% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 549,769 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $50,203,000 after purchasing an additional 234,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Albar Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter worth $12,930,000. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 1.2%

EMN stock traded down $0.79 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $65.61. The stock had a trading volume of 1,414,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,572,046. The firm has a market cap of $7.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.21 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Eastman Chemical Company has a 1-year low of $56.78 and a 1-year high of $114.50. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $74.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.71.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 15.24%. Eastman Chemical's quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.15 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Eastman Chemical Company will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. Eastman Chemical's payout ratio is presently 46.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EMN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Eastman Chemical from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $92.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $90.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $87.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.00.

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.