Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Purchases New Holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 5,858 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $656,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,285,230 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $595,820,000 after buying an additional 70,692 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,784,102 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $310,628,000 after acquiring an additional 13,381 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,734,190 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $306,093,000 after acquiring an additional 83,504 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,280,699 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $223,435,000 after purchasing an additional 198,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in Eastman Chemical by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,240,013 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $219,454,000 after purchasing an additional 40,070 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $321,405.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,298,430. The trade was a 19.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the firm's 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 directly owns 4,403 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders have sold 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on EMN. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Eastman Chemical from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America lowered shares of Eastman Chemical from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $114.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $114.46.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:EMN traded down $1.20 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $96.46. The stock had a trading volume of 1,141,777 shares, compared to its average volume of 969,671. The firm has a market cap of $11.18 billion, a PE ratio of 12.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.42. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Eastman Chemical has a twelve month low of $80.71 and a twelve month high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.12. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.38 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.47 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. This is a positive change from Eastman Chemical's previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Eastman Chemical's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.44%.

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.