Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) Position Increased by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 20.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,229,707 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 209,075 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 1.06% of Eastman Chemical worth $112,297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in EMN. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC grew its position in Eastman Chemical by 84.5% during the 4th quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 143,482 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,103,000 after purchasing an additional 65,693 shares in the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 7,776 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $710,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp acquired a new position in Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter valued at $327,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in Eastman Chemical by 135.7% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 528 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 23,637 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after acquiring an additional 767 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EMN. StockNews.com upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 18th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $109.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Eastman Chemical from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.08.

Eastman Chemical Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EMN opened at $88.14 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.51. Eastman Chemical has a 52 week low of $85.84 and a 52 week high of $114.50. The firm has a market cap of $10.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 9.65%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders 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 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is 43.23%.

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.