Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Sells 433 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 75,595 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 433 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.07% of Eastman Chemical worth $6,903,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EMN. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 62.3% in the 4th 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. raised its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 384.4% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 373 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 94.7% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EMN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America raised Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.08.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Eastman Chemical stock opened at $88.55 on Monday. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $86.70 and a fifty-two week high of $114.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $95.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.69. The stock has a market cap of $10.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.51.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 9.65%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.23%.

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.