James J. Burns & Company LLC Invests $741,000 in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

James J. Burns & Company LLC purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,115 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $741,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 1.5% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 48,391 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,741,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,045,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 52.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 537 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 23,813 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,666,000 after acquiring an additional 1,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 29,900 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,347,000 after purchasing an additional 6,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lowered their price target on Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Eastman Chemical from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $109.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $102.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $113.54.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

NYSE:EMN traded down $0.58 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $101.21. 982,506 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,198,084. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $94.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $81.00 and a one year high of $114.50. The firm has a market cap of $11.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.44.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.40%. Research analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. This is an increase from Eastman Chemical's previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Eastman Chemical's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $1,102,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total transaction of $471,623.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $466,013.52. This represents a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.