Burney Co. Sells 509 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Burney Co. lowered its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 17,929 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 509 shares during the quarter. Burney Co.’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $1,637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EMN. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,285,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $595,820,000 after buying an additional 70,692 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Eastman Chemical by 5.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,219,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $593,233,000 after acquiring an additional 282,458 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,784,102 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $310,628,000 after purchasing an additional 13,381 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,734,190 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $306,093,000 after purchasing an additional 83,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 9.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 198,645 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

NYSE:EMN opened at $91.78 on Friday. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $96.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.23. Eastman Chemical has a 1-year low of $80.71 and a 1-year high of $114.50. The firm has a market cap of $10.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.44.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the company earned $1.47 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.61 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on EMN. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastman Chemical

In other news, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $321,405.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,366 shares in the company, valued at $1,298,430. This trade represents a 19.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $1,102,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,965,135. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 18,021 shares of company stock valued at $1,895,948. Company insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

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.