Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors purchased 3,004 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 674% compared to the average daily volume of 388 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EMN. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup downgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America raised Eastman Chemical from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $114.08.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its stake 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 buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 384.4% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 373 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 94.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Eastman Chemical Price Performance

NYSE EMN traded up $0.87 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $89.56. The company had a trading volume of 235,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 909,648. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.69. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $86.70 and a 52 week high of $114.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.51.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical's dividend payout ratio is 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.