Sound Income Strategies LLC Grows Holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 20.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,687 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $245,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at $202,000. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 11,408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after buying an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 3,273 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 44,675 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,081,000 after purchasing an additional 5,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kera Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth about $226,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Eastman Chemical

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 transaction of $1,102,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,287 shares in the company, valued at $4,965,135. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total transaction of $471,623.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $466,013.52. This represents a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,021 shares of company stock valued at $1,895,948 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on EMN. StockNews.com raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 18th. Citigroup cut shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, 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 note on Tuesday, November 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.92.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of EMN opened at $92.10 on Friday. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $80.71 and a fifty-two week high of $114.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $95.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. 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 (NYSE:EMN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.47 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. This is an increase from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.44%.

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.