Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) Short Interest Up 18.6% in March

Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 5,349,657 shares, an increase of 18.6% from the March 15th total of 4,509,605 shares. Currently, 4.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,909,622 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastman Chemical

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EMN. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eastman Chemical by 70.0% during the fourth quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 425 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EMN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $74.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Eastman Chemical from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.00.

Eastman Chemical Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EMN traded up $0.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $73.85. The stock had a trading volume of 1,815,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,531,022. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $8.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.16. Eastman Chemical has a 1 year low of $56.11 and a 1 year high of $84.18. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $73.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.39.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.03 billion. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 5.42%.Eastman Chemical’s quarterly revenue was down 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is presently 82.15%.

About Eastman Chemical

Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE: EMN) is a global specialty materials company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of advanced materials, chemicals and fibers. Its product portfolio spans performance additives, functional products, and engineered plastics designed to enhance the durability, appearance and performance of end products across diverse industries.

The company’s main business activities include the production of specialty chemicals used in adhesives, coatings, building materials and consumer care applications, as well as high-performance plastics for packaging, automotive and electronics markets.