Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stock Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) by 25.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,251 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,461 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.05% of Eastman Chemical worth $5,593,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in Eastman Chemical by 784.4% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 681 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the third quarter valued at about $217,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 4.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 11,967 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,340,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 32.2% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,389 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $603,000 after acquiring an additional 1,313 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical in the third quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total transaction of $471,623.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at $466,013.52. The trade was a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $1,102,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,287 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,965,135. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.08.

Eastman Chemical Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:EMN traded down $1.93 during trading on Friday, reaching $98.63. 727,019 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,114,921. Eastman Chemical has a 1-year low of $85.28 and a 1-year high of $114.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $94.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $11.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.44.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. Eastman Chemical's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.23%.

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.