Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $2.86 Million Stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,554 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 399 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $2,861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,285,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $595,820,000 after purchasing an additional 70,692 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,219,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $593,233,000 after buying an additional 282,458 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,784,102 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $310,628,000 after buying an additional 13,381 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 3.2% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 83,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,280,699 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $223,435,000 after acquiring an additional 198,645 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup cut Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $104.00 in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho upped their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $114.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $113.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $321,405.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,366 shares in the company, valued at $1,298,430. This 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, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were 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 directly owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $466,013.52. The trade was a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948 in the last ninety days. 1.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Eastman Chemical Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock opened at $91.76 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $103.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.56. The company has a market capitalization of $10.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.28, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.42. 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 has a 12-month low of $80.71 and a 12-month high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. This is a boost from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 44.44%.

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.