Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Trims Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH reduced its stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,852 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 477 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 238.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 94.7% in 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 last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the third quarter valued at $38,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 52.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 537 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 30.9% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock opened at $93.13 on Friday. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $80.71 and a 52 week high of $114.50. The company has a market capitalization of $10.79 billion, a PE ratio of 12.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $95.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastman Chemical

In other news, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,298,430. This trade represents a 19.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $1,102,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,021 shares of company stock valued at $1,895,948. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on EMN. Bank of America raised Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 18th. Piper Sandler cut 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.92.

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.