SG Americas Securities LLC Lowers Holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

SG Americas Securities LLC lowered its stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) by 86.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,125 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 19,514 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 48,391 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,741,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical during the 2nd quarter worth $2,045,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 29,900 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,347,000 after acquiring an additional 6,300 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 23,813 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,666,000 after acquiring an additional 1,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,021 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $450,000 after buying an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Eastman Chemical Stock Down 2.0 %

EMN traded down $2.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $99.20. The stock had a trading volume of 915,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,167,509. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $81.00 and a one year high of $114.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock's 50 day moving average is $94.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.12. The company has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 9.65%. As a group, analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. This is a boost from Eastman Chemical's previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Eastman Chemical's payout ratio is presently 43.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EMN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upgraded Eastman Chemical from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Eastman Chemical from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $113.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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 $4,965,135. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total value of $471,623.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,403 shares in the company, valued at $466,013.52. This represents a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.93% of the company's stock.

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.