112,073 Shares in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Acquired by Regents Gate Capital LLP

Regents Gate Capital LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 112,073 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,235,000. Eastman Chemical accounts for approximately 4.1% of Regents Gate Capital LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Regents Gate Capital LLP owned 0.10% of Eastman Chemical as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EMN. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 238.1% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in Eastman Chemical by 94.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 784.4% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 681 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 604 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock opened at $99.20 on Monday. 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 1 year low of $81.00 and a 1 year high of $114.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.14. The firm has a market cap of $11.50 billion, a PE ratio of 12.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.44.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is currently 43.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on EMN. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 18th. Mizuho upped their target price on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup downgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $113.54.

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.