IFG Advisory LLC Cuts Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

IFG Advisory LLC cut its holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) by 54.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 17,160 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 20,670 shares during the quarter. IFG Advisory LLC's holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $1,541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 2.3% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 17,261 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,934,000 after buying an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 18,628 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,087,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 6,098 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 4,380 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 200,656 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $22,546,000 after buying an additional 28,338 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EMN traded up $0.64 on Thursday, hitting $100.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 978,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,153,569. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.21. Eastman Chemical has a 1 year low of $68.89 and a 1 year high of $100.61. The company has a market capitalization of $11.79 billion, a PE ratio of 13.38, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

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

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Eastman Chemical's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.26%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.75, for a total transaction of $415,496.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EMN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Eastman Chemical in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Eastman Chemical from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Eastman Chemical from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $96.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $89.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $93.75.

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.