GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 3,445 Shares of Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) by 7.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,981 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 3,445 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $3,611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in EMN. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its stake 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 worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 384.4% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 373 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of EMN traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $76.23. 1,482,406 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,192,279. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $78.58 and a 200-day moving average of $87.38. Eastman Chemical Company has a 52 week low of $70.90 and a 52 week high of $114.50. The stock has a market cap of $8.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.70, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.72.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.02. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.85% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. The business's revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical Company will post 8.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Eastman Chemical's payout ratio is 42.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EMN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $108.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Mizuho upgraded Eastman Chemical from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. KeyCorp dropped their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $76.00 target price (down previously from $112.00) on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $101.00 in a report on Friday, April 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.