Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Reduces Stock Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC decreased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 61.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 41,314 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 67,188 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $3,773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,285,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $595,820,000 after buying an additional 70,692 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Eastman Chemical by 5.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,219,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $593,233,000 after acquiring an additional 282,458 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,784,102 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $310,628,000 after purchasing an additional 13,381 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,734,190 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $306,093,000 after purchasing an additional 83,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,240,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $219,454,000 after purchasing an additional 40,070 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EMN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup cut Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating 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 target for the stock from $115.00 to $109.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.92.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Eastman Chemical stock opened at $93.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.81 billion, a PE ratio of 12.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.44. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $80.71 and a one year high of $114.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $96.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.52.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.12. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.47 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 7.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. This is a positive change from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

Insider Activity at Eastman Chemical

In related news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total value of $471,623.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $466,013.52. The trade was a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $321,405.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,298,430. The trade was a 19.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,021 shares of company stock valued at $1,895,948. Insiders own 2.28% of the company’s stock.

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.