Strengthening Families & Communities LLC Sells 30,145 Shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Strengthening Families & Communities LLC lessened its stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 92.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,507 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 30,145 shares during the period. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. James J. Burns & Company LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth $741,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Eastman Chemical by 492.9% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 213,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,863,000 after purchasing an additional 177,207 shares during the period. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter worth about $3,319,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 110,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,383,000 after purchasing an additional 19,809 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 148,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,588,000 after purchasing an additional 9,447 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $466,013.52. This represents a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on EMN shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $113.54.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

EMN opened at $99.04 on Tuesday. 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 market capitalization of $11.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44. Eastman Chemical has a 1 year low of $81.00 and a 1 year high of $114.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $94.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.16.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.40%. Equities analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.83 dividend. This is a positive change from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is presently 43.23%.

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.