Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Decreases Stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lessened its stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 13.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,440 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,441 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $1,729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 4.3% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 3.3% in the third quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 3,434 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC increased its position in Eastman Chemical by 4.8% during the second quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 2,662 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RKL Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 0.9% during the third quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America downgraded Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $114.00 to $119.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Eastman Chemical presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.86.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

EMN opened at $99.31 on Wednesday. Eastman Chemical has a twelve month low of $80.71 and a twelve month high of $114.50. The firm has a market cap of $11.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.80.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.12. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 15.37% and a net margin of 9.47%. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a boost from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is 43.37%.

Insider Transactions at Eastman Chemical

In other news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total value of $471,623.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares in the company, valued at $466,013.52. The trade was a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 18,021 shares of company stock valued at $1,895,948. 2.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Eastman Chemical Company 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.