Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) Shares Sold by National Bank of Canada FI

Key Points

• National Bank of Canada FI reduced its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 6.4%, selling 6,055 shares, and now owns 89,250 shares valued at $7.86 million.
• Analysts lowered their price targets for Eastman Chemical, with Mizuho cutting theirs from $92.00 to $80.00, and Goldman Sachs from $87.00 to $65.00.
• Eastman Chemical announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 5.2%.

National Bank of Canada FI reduced its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) by 6.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 89,250 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 6,055 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.08% of Eastman Chemical worth $7,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EMN. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at $202,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 39,637 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,619,000 after purchasing an additional 3,392 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 423.6% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,754 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 127.3% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 173,040 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $15,802,000 after buying an additional 96,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 66,845 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $6,104,000 after buying an additional 925 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EMN traded down $0.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $65.61. 1,414,096 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,572,046. Eastman Chemical Company has a fifty-two week low of $56.78 and a fifty-two week high of $114.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $7.53 billion, a PE ratio of 9.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.21 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.71.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.12). Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.15 EPS. Eastman Chemical's revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical Company will post 8.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Eastman Chemical's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on EMN. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $90.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered Eastman Chemical from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (down from $112.00) on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $107.00 to $101.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.00.

About Eastman Chemical

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.