1,648,460 Shares in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Acquired by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,648,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,537,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 384.4% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 373 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 94.7% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EMN has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. 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 research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.08.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock opened at $98.93 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Eastman Chemical has a 1-year low of $86.70 and a 1-year high of $114.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.88, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.44.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share 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 16.27%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.