Olstein Capital Management L.P. Lowers Stock Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Olstein Capital Management L.P. cut its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $5,412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,639 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 19.5% during the third quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 3,452 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,434 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 4,457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastman Chemical

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 1,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.22, for a total value of $195,959.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Adrian James Holt sold 1,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.22, for a total value of $195,959.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark J. Costa sold 102,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total value of $10,318,864.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 395,699 shares in the company, valued at $39,878,545.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 108,027 shares of company stock valued at $10,885,638 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.28% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Eastman Chemical stock traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $95.87. 381,410 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,003,023. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.40. The company has a market capitalization of $11.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.39. Eastman Chemical has a 1 year low of $68.89 and a 1 year high of $105.98.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 10.16%. Eastman Chemical’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 41.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho raised their target price on Eastman Chemical from $91.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $102.00 to $125.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Eastman Chemical from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Eastman Chemical from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Eastman Chemical from $85.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.31.

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.