LPL Financial LLC Purchases 18,827 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 190,050 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,827 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.16% of Eastman Chemical worth $17,355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EMN. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 837 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 2.2% in the 4th 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 period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 62.3% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 323 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $846,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on EMN shares. Citigroup lowered Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.08.

Eastman Chemical Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:EMN opened at $88.14 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Eastman Chemical has a 52-week low of $85.84 and a 52-week high of $114.50. The stock has a market cap of $10.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $95.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.29.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced 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 analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.77%. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio 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.