Versor Investments LP Acquires New Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 6,700 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $612,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,505 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $503,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,576 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,520,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,196 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 9,268 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $846,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Finally, Verity Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EMN. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America raised Eastman Chemical from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays cut their target price on Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Eastman Chemical from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.08.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock traded down $0.78 on Tuesday, hitting $93.68. The company had a trading volume of 528,447 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,061,937. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $86.70 and a 52 week high of $114.50. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.35. The company has a market cap of $10.79 billion, a PE ratio of 12.20, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.44.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) 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 expect that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. Eastman Chemical's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.