HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Sells 190 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lessened its holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,711 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 190 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $374,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EMN. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter worth approximately $150,537,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth approximately $137,416,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 3,136.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 736,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $67,213,000 after acquiring an additional 713,272 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,785,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $528,310,000 after acquiring an additional 565,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,229,707 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $112,297,000 after acquiring an additional 209,075 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eastman Chemical Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:EMN opened at $88.35 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $85.84 and a one year high of $114.50. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.11. The company has a market cap of $10.18 billion, a PE ratio of 11.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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, research analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 43.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp raised their price target on Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $109.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.