Venturi Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 1,610.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,237 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $314,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in Eastman Chemical by 94.7% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 168.6% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 744 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $89,000. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eastman Chemical news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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 $4,965,135. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total value of $471,623.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $466,013.52. This represents a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EMN. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays reduced their price target on Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.08.

Eastman Chemical Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of EMN opened at $100.58 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $94.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.18. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $83.83 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.10, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.44.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.40%. Equities research analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 43.23%.

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.