KBC Group NV Raises Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) by 21.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,610 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 19,809 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned about 0.09% of Eastman Chemical worth $12,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EMN. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 321.2% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 16,250 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,628,000 after purchasing an additional 12,392 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 13.5% during the second quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 22,280 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,655 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 119.7% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 10,088 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,011,000 after purchasing an additional 5,496 shares during the period. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 18.5% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 39,306 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,939,000 after buying an additional 6,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 161,931 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $16,229,000 after buying an additional 15,859 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on EMN. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $107.00 to $105.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Mizuho increased their target price on Eastman Chemical from $107.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $103.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $111.50.

Insider Activity at Eastman Chemical

In related news, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $321,405.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,366 shares in the company, valued at $1,298,430. This represents a 19.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Eastman Chemical Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock traded up $0.86 on Friday, hitting $101.61. The stock had a trading volume of 990,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,003,053. 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 $80.14 and a one year high of $114.50. The stock has a market cap of $11.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.44. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $106.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.38.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.12. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.47 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

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.