Polymer Capital Management US LLC Acquires Shares of 23,600 Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Polymer Capital Management US LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 23,600 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,155,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 423.6% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,754 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $160,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419 shares in the last quarter. Aristides Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter worth $303,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1,437.2% in the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,445 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 1,351 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 39,637 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,619,000 after buying an additional 3,392 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 913,138 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $83,388,000 after buying an additional 28,891 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EMN. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $125.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup upgraded Eastman Chemical from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $105.00 to $101.00 in a research note on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, January 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $107.75.

Eastman Chemical Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock traded up $2.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $78.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,057,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,011,042. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Eastman Chemical has a 52-week low of $70.90 and a 52-week high of $114.50. The firm's 50-day moving average is $92.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.24. The company has a market cap of $9.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.18, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.38.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 9.65%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.24%. Eastman Chemical's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.23%.

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.