National Bank of Canada FI Acquires 177,207 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) by 492.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 213,161 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 177,207 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.18% of Eastman Chemical worth $23,863,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,285,230 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $595,820,000 after purchasing an additional 70,692 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,734,190 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $306,093,000 after acquiring an additional 83,504 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,280,699 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $223,435,000 after acquiring an additional 198,645 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1.8% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,240,013 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $219,454,000 after purchasing an additional 40,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 0.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,220,463 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $119,569,000 after purchasing an additional 7,847 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $321,405.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $1,102,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,287 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,021 shares of company stock valued at $1,895,948 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EMN. Wells Fargo & Company raised Eastman Chemical from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective 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. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America downgraded Eastman Chemical from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $114.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.86.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

EMN traded down $0.77 on Tuesday, reaching $99.31. The company had a trading volume of 1,394,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 962,938. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.52. Eastman Chemical has a 52-week low of $80.71 and a 52-week high of $114.50. The company has a market cap of $11.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.81.

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

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. This is a boost from Eastman Chemical's previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Eastman Chemical's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.37%.

Eastman Chemical Company 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.