LRI Investments LLC Increases Stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 500 shares during the quarter. LRI Investments LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $336,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,285,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $595,820,000 after acquiring an additional 70,692 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 9.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,280,699 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $223,435,000 after purchasing an additional 198,645 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1.8% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,240,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $219,454,000 after purchasing an additional 40,070 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,220,463 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $119,569,000 after buying an additional 7,847 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock opened at $100.07 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a 50-day moving average of $105.15 and a 200 day moving average of $101.81. Eastman Chemical has a 12 month low of $80.71 and a 12 month high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 EPS 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 company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.37%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $1,102,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,965,135. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,298,430. This trade represents a 19.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948. 2.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on EMN shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Mizuho increased their price target on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America cut shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $114.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.86.

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.