Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Announces $0.83 Quarterly Dividend

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.83 per share by the basic materials company on Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th.

Eastman Chemical has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.8% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 15 consecutive years. Eastman Chemical has a payout ratio of 35.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Eastman Chemical to earn $9.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.7%.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

EMN stock opened at $94.55 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.31. The company has a market capitalization of $10.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.31, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. Eastman Chemical has a twelve month low of $86.70 and a twelve month high of $114.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.27%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in Eastman Chemical stock. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,214 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on EMN shares. Citigroup lowered 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 report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America upgraded shares of 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 research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.08.

Eastman Chemical Company 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.