Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Shares Sold by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 63,908 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 775 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $5,889,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 70,692 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,219,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $593,233,000 after buying an additional 282,458 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 13,381 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 83,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 947,473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $106,070,000 after purchasing an additional 126,301 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $321,405.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,298,430. The trade was a 19.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 18,021 shares of company stock valued at $1,895,948. Insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 1.1 %

EMN opened at $92.10 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.13. The company has a market cap of $10.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.33, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.44. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $80.71 and a one year high of $114.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.52.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.47 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho increased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup cut shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.92.

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.