Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Hold" from the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $111.64.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EMN. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $107.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America cut shares of Eastman Chemical from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $114.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $118.00 to $110.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

NYSE:EMN traded up $0.83 on Tuesday, reaching $100.88. The stock had a trading volume of 1,127,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 944,678. The company has a market capitalization of $11.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $105.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Eastman Chemical has a 1-year low of $75.01 and a 1-year high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) last announced 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 15.45% and a net margin of 9.47%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.47 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.61 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 649.8% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,511,466 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $452,139,000 after buying an additional 3,909,740 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings 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 valued at $223,435,000 after purchasing an additional 198,645 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,240,013 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $219,454,000 after purchasing an additional 40,070 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 0.6% in the 2nd 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 buying an additional 7,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 18.1% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,120,604 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $112,307,000 after acquiring an additional 171,945 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.