Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 105,309 Shares of Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) by 41.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 149,607 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 105,309 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $13,182,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 5.9% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 155,509 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,702,000 after buying an additional 8,708 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 36.9% in the first quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,029 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 816 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in Eastman Chemical in the first quarter worth $1,494,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 12.8% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $167,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 882.3% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 943 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 847 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Stock Up 0.9%

Eastman Chemical stock opened at $79.76 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.22. Eastman Chemical Company has a 1-year low of $70.90 and a 1-year high of $114.50. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.35 billion. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.85% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.61 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical Company will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $101.00 in a report on Friday, April 4th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $112.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.08.

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.