Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Purchases 52,102 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 646,891 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 52,102 shares during the quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned about 0.55% of Eastman Chemical worth $58,579,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 70,873 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,366,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Edmp Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 64.8% during the 4th quarter. Edmp Inc. now owns 7,718 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,035 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 40,919 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,675,000 after purchasing an additional 10,399 shares during the period. Cullinan Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter worth about $225,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,434 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Eastman Chemical from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $89.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. KeyCorp upped their target price 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 cut their target price on Eastman Chemical from $96.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Eastman Chemical from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $93.75.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of EMN stock traded up $0.16 on Friday, hitting $99.83. 614,627 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,253,767. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $11.74 billion, a PE ratio of 13.33, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.54. Eastman Chemical has a 1-year low of $68.89 and a 1-year high of $102.71. The company's fifty day moving average is $89.72 and its 200 day moving average is $84.18.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.03. The business 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 business's revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors 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 yield of 3.25%. Eastman Chemical's payout ratio is currently 43.26%.

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.