Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,098,183 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 32,237 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.95% of Eastman Chemical worth $100,286,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EMN. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 837 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,505 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $503,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 323 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,196 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 9,268 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $846,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EMN shares. Barclays lowered their price target on Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho upgraded Eastman Chemical from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $123.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $91.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.08.

Eastman Chemical Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:EMN traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $77.88. The stock had a trading volume of 130,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,231,444. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Eastman Chemical has a twelve month low of $70.90 and a twelve month high of $114.50. The company has a market capitalization of $8.97 billion, a PE ratio of 10.14, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.76.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 16.27%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.26%. Eastman Chemical's payout ratio is currently 43.23%.

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.