Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN – Get Rating)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $102.00 to $93.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Eastman Chemical traded as low as $81.15 and last traded at $81.61, with a volume of 5658 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.11.
A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 29th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Eastman Chemical from $123.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $150.00 to $87.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 16th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Eastman Chemical from $125.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Monday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Eastman Chemical from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $110.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $115.53.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastman Chemical
A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EMN. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the second quarter worth $263,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 10.2% during the second quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,956 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. First Command Bank bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the second quarter worth $30,000. Macquarie Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 40.7% during the second quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 86,727 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,786,000 after buying an additional 25,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 1.0% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 210,853 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $18,928,000 after buying an additional 2,088 shares in the last quarter. 85.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Eastman Chemical Price Performance
The company has a fifty day moving average of $93.69 and a 200-day moving average of $100.92. The firm has a market cap of $9.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.69.
Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.69 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 20.67% and a net margin of 11.18%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 15th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 14th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.01%.
Eastman Chemical Company Profile
Eastman Chemical Company operates as a specialty materials company in the United States and internationally. The company’s Additives & Functional Products segment offers hydrocarbon and rosin resins; organic acid-based solutions; amine derivative-based building blocks; metam-based soil fumigants, thiram and ziram based fungicides, and plant growth regulators; specialty coalescent, specialty and commodity solvents, paint additives, and specialty polymers; heat transfer and aviation fluids; insoluble sulfur and anti-degradant rubber additives; and performance resins.