Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Short Interest Up 56.1% in November

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,060,000 shares, an increase of 56.1% from the October 31st total of 1,320,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 946,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 1.8% of the company's shares are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Eastman Chemical

In other news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,287 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $321,405.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,298,430. The trade was a 19.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,285,230 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $595,820,000 after acquiring an additional 70,692 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 5.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,219,438 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $593,233,000 after purchasing an additional 282,458 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,784,102 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $310,628,000 after purchasing an additional 13,381 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 83,504 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 9.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,280,699 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $223,435,000 after buying an additional 198,645 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America lowered Eastman Chemical from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $114.00 to $119.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Eastman Chemical from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $112.86.

Eastman Chemical Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE EMN traded up $0.49 during trading on Friday, hitting $104.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 498,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 956,347. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $80.71 and a fifty-two week high of $114.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $12.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.44. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $106.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.71.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.12. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.47 EPS. Eastman Chemical's revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.