Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) – Stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group increased their Q1 2019 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Eastman Chemical in a note issued to investors on Monday, February 4th, according to Zacks Investment Research. Jefferies Financial Group analyst L. Alexander now anticipates that the basic materials company will post earnings of $2.03 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $1.33. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a “Buy” rating and a $91.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group also issued estimates for Eastman Chemical’s Q2 2019 earnings at $2.42 EPS and Q3 2019 earnings at $2.52 EPS.
Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 31st. The basic materials company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.60 by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $2.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.42 billion. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 20.22% and a net margin of 10.64%.
A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Zacks Investment Research raised Eastman Chemical from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 2nd. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Eastman Chemical from $122.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 29th. Cowen reduced their target price on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 31st. Standpoint Research lowered Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Eastman Chemical in a research note on Monday, December 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Eastman Chemical presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.90.
Shares of EMN traded up $0.76 on Thursday, reaching $84.45. The stock had a trading volume of 966,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,209,307. The stock has a market cap of $11.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Eastman Chemical has a twelve month low of $67.40 and a twelve month high of $112.45.
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. San Francisco Sentry Investment Group CA raised its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. San Francisco Sentry Investment Group CA now owns 1,635 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Alpha Windward LLC increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Alpha Windward LLC now owns 5,955 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Vectors Research Management LLC increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Vectors Research Management LLC now owns 851 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Private Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Private Capital Group LLC now owns 1,167 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 615 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
In other news, Director David W. Raisbeck bought 13,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $73.21 per share, with a total value of $988,335.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,592,951.78. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.24%.
Eastman Chemical Company Profile
Eastman Chemical Company manufactures and sells materials, specialty additives, chemicals, and fibers in the United States and internationally. The company’s Additives & Functional Products segment offers specialty coalescents, specialty and commodity solvents, paint additives, and specialty polymers; hydrocarbon and rosin resins; insoluble sulfur and antidegradant rubber additives; performance resins and amine derivative-based building blocks; heat transfer and aviation fluids; formic acid-based solutions; and metam-based soil fumigants, thiram and ziram based fungicides, and plant growth regulators.