BTC Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

BTC Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 18.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 15,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,464 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $1,444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Iams Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Eastman Chemical by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Iams Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,843 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $899,000 after acquiring an additional 1,478 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in Eastman Chemical by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 19,774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,806,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the fourth quarter valued at about $219,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 82.9% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,123 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,472,000 after purchasing an additional 7,307 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $466,013.52. This represents a 50.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Christopher Moore Killian sold 3,061 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $321,405.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,366 shares in the company, valued at $1,298,430. The trade was a 19.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948 over the last quarter. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on EMN. Bank of America upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $115.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $105.00 to $102.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.92.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:EMN opened at $92.62 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $94.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.01. Eastman Chemical has a 1 year low of $80.71 and a 1 year high of $114.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted 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 net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.37%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Eastman Chemical will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 44.44%.

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.