Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Given New $103.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) had its price objective lifted by Royal Bank of Canada from $101.00 to $103.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays dropped their price target on Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.64.

Eastman Chemical Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE EMN opened at $101.85 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.07. The firm has a market cap of $11.80 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.44. Eastman Chemical has a twelve month low of $80.89 and a twelve month high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 9.65%. Analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $1,102,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,965,135. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 492.9% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 213,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,863,000 after acquiring an additional 177,207 shares during the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,319,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 21.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 110,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,383,000 after purchasing an additional 19,809 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 6.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 148,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,588,000 after purchasing an additional 9,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, James J. Burns & Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $741,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

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.