Eagle Asset Management Inc. Sells 33,906 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 860,760 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 33,906 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. owned 0.73% of Eastman Chemical worth $77,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY acquired a new stake in Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,575,783 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $231,357,000 after buying an additional 168,009 shares during the period. Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at $812,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 99,419 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $8,930,000 after purchasing an additional 14,898 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth about $8,592,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Eastman Chemical from $85.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Mizuho upped their price target on Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group upgraded Eastman Chemical from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $106.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Eastman Chemical from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $106.24.

Insider Transactions at Eastman Chemical

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.75, for a total transaction of $415,496.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Eastman Chemical news, CEO Mark J. Costa sold 102,390 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total transaction of $10,318,864.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 395,699 shares of the company's stock, valued at $39,878,545.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 4,735 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.75, for a total value of $415,496.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 110,787 shares of company stock valued at $11,105,175. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

EMN stock traded up $0.51 during trading on Friday, reaching $101.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 998,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 633,705. Eastman Chemical has a 1 year low of $68.89 and a 1 year high of $102.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company's fifty day moving average is $99.02 and its 200-day moving average is $90.92. The company has a market capitalization of $11.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.54.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.20. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 10.16%. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Eastman Chemical's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.75%.

Eastman Chemical 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.

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