South Dakota Investment Council Raises Stake in Eastman Chemical Company $EMN

South Dakota Investment Council increased its stake in Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) by 22.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,501 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,363 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $7,578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EMN. Regents Gate Capital LLP increased its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 5,681.0% in the second quarter. Regents Gate Capital LLP now owns 77,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,775,000 after buying an additional 76,012 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,544 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $638,000 after acquiring an additional 651 shares during the period. Lifeworks Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 24.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 29,375 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,193,000 after acquiring an additional 5,856 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its stake in Eastman Chemical by 124.9% in the 2nd quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 7,065 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 3,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio raised its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 12.0% during the second quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 24,380 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,820,000 after purchasing an additional 2,607 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Eastman Chemical stock opened at $59.45 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.35, a P/E/G ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.29. Eastman Chemical Company has a 12-month low of $56.78 and a 12-month high of $107.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $64.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.78.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.12). Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.15 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Eastman Chemical Company will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is 46.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on EMN shares. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $71.00 target price on Eastman Chemical in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. KeyCorp set a $79.00 target price on shares of Eastman Chemical and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $86.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Eastman Chemical has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.62.

Eastman Chemical 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.