Nuveen Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 249,867 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 5,933 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned 0.22% of Eastman Chemical worth $22,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EMN. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 315,044 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $35,268,000 after buying an additional 10,695 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at about $242,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 3,273 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 11,408 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,047,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at about $202,000. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on EMN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $112.00 to $87.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $108.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $123.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $125.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $99.15.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

EMN traded up $1.87 on Tuesday, hitting $82.41. 1,872,571 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,092,590. 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 fifty day moving average is $80.45 and its 200 day moving average is $90.96. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $70.90 and a fifty-two week high of $114.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.29.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.02. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.61 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.03%. Eastman Chemical's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.24%.

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.