Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Purchases 65,693 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 84.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 143,482 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,693 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned 0.12% of Eastman Chemical worth $13,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EMN. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 62.3% in 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 during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 384.4% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 373 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 94.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Stock Up 1.3 %

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

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 EPS 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%. Analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on EMN shares. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $109.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 18th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.