National Bank of Canada FI Trims Stock Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

National Bank of Canada FI cut its stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) by 27.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,069 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 16,571 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI's holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $3,939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EMN. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,978,856 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $305,258,000 after purchasing an additional 39,860 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,795,824 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $214,496,000 after acquiring an additional 760,974 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,407,774 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $184,724,000 after acquiring an additional 51,788 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 19.9% in the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,807,691 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $138,686,000 after purchasing an additional 299,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,328,396 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $101,915,000 after purchasing an additional 23,009 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of EMN traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $101.03. 935,711 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 946,056. The company has a market cap of $11.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.54. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.42. Eastman Chemical has a 12-month low of $68.89 and a 12-month high of $102.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.20. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 10.16% and a return on equity of 13.84%. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Eastman Chemical's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Eastman Chemical's dividend payout ratio is 41.75%.

Insider Transactions at Eastman Chemical

In related news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of Eastman Chemical 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.75, for a total value of $415,496.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark J. Costa sold 102,390 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total transaction of $10,318,864.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 395,699 shares of the company's stock, valued at $39,878,545.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on EMN. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $101.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 5th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Citigroup raised their target price on Eastman Chemical from $95.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $104.18.

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.