Everstar Asset Management LLC Sells 1,613 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Everstar Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 34.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,613 shares during the quarter. Everstar Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,229,707 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $112,297,000 after buying an additional 209,075 shares during the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its position in Eastman Chemical by 84.5% in the fourth quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 143,482 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,103,000 after acquiring an additional 65,693 shares during the period. Intrust Bank NA boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 7,776 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $710,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $327,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 135.7% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 528 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

NYSE:EMN opened at $88.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.48, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $95.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.29. Eastman Chemical has a twelve month low of $85.84 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.27%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.77%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is 43.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EMN has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group lowered 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Six 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.08.

About Eastman Chemical

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.