Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Price Target Raised to $103.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) had its target price lifted by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $101.00 to $103.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “sector perform” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target indicates a potential upside of 1.02% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on EMN. Wells Fargo & Company raised Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.64.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

NYSE:EMN traded up $1.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $101.96. 626,084 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,160,731. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.44. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.52. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $80.89 and a fifty-two week high of $114.50.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released 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 return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 9.65%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 8.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastman Chemical

In related news, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $1,102,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,965,135. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $466,013.52. This trade represents a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948. Insiders own 2.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EMN. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Eastman Chemical by 1,104.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 933,984 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $104,560,000 after acquiring an additional 856,432 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 57.2% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 935,732 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $104,755,000 after buying an additional 340,562 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,219,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $593,233,000 after buying an additional 282,458 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 492.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 213,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,863,000 after buying an additional 177,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 443.1% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 158,253 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,716,000 after buying an additional 129,112 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.