Nomura Holdings Inc. Purchases Shares of 3,821 Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,821 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EMN. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 323 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 384.4% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 373 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EMN opened at $81.41 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.42. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $70.90 and a one year high of $114.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.60, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.29.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.02. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 9.65%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.61 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $125.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical from $108.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $76.00 target price (down previously from $112.00) on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research note on Monday, April 28th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Eastman Chemical from $120.00 to $106.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Eastman Chemical from $123.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.15.

Eastman Chemical Company 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.