Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Decreases Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV decreased its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) by 55.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 30,454 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 37,205 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV's holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $2,781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 837 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,505 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $503,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 62.3% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 323 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,196 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 9,268 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $846,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of EMN stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $77.48. 1,198,109 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,054,437. Eastman Chemical has a 52-week low of $70.90 and a 52-week high of $114.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.29. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $83.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

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

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Eastman Chemical's payout ratio is currently 42.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on EMN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Eastman Chemical from $112.00 to $87.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. 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. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $120.00 to $106.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $108.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Eastman Chemical from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $109.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $99.15.

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.