Virtu Financial LLC Acquires New Position in Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN)

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC has acquired a new position in Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE: EMN) with 6,496 shares valued at approximately $572,000 in the first quarter of 2023.
• Analysts have recently downgraded their price targets for Eastman Chemical, with Citigroup lowering theirs from $90.00 to $68.00, reflecting a caution among investment firms.
• Eastman Chemical announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83, representing a 5.0% yield, with the next payout scheduled for October 7th.

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,496 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $572,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter valued at $137,848,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 13.4% in 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 lifted its stake in 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 valued at $42,023,000 after acquiring an additional 472,741 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 74.5% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 549,769 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $50,203,000 after acquiring an additional 234,725 shares during the period. Finally, Albar Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter valued at about $12,930,000. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

NYSE:EMN traded down $0.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $65.61. The stock had a trading volume of 1,414,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,071,002. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.21, a PEG ratio of 6.34 and a beta of 1.21. Eastman Chemical Company has a twelve month low of $56.78 and a twelve month high of $114.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.52.

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

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on EMN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $87.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Eastman Chemical from $92.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Eastman Chemical from $125.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $76.00 price target (down from $112.00) on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, UBS Group decreased 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.