Romano Brothers AND Company Cuts Stock Holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Romano Brothers AND Company cut its position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 35,652 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $3,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 262.7% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,006 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $195,000 after buying an additional 1,453 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 108,112 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,592,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in Eastman Chemical by 190.7% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 61,918 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,066,000 after acquiring an additional 40,620 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 0.4% during the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 38,081 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,731,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 12.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 13,913 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,574 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on EMN. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup cut Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.92.

Eastman Chemical Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of EMN opened at $93.22 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $96.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.25. Eastman Chemical has a 12-month low of $80.71 and a 12-month high of $114.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.44.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.47 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is 44.44%.

Insider Transactions at Eastman Chemical

In related news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total transaction of $471,623.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $466,013.52. This trade represents a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,965,135. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948. 2.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.