Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $97.81.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on EMN shares. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $101.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Thursday, February 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.75, for a total transaction of $415,496.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.93% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Eastman Chemical

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Money Concepts Capital Corp grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 435.0% during the fourth quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 428 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock traded up $0.40 on Friday, hitting $96.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 696,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,091,762. Eastman Chemical has a 52-week low of $68.89 and a 52-week high of $102.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $92.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.62. The company has a market capitalization of $11.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.54.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.03. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Eastman Chemical's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.26%.

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.