Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $16.59 Million Holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 148,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,447 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Eastman Chemical were worth $16,588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EMN. HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $204,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 60,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,942,000 after buying an additional 2,378 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in Eastman Chemical by 83.7% during the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 35,426 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,471,000 after buying an additional 16,141 shares in the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Eastman Chemical during the 2nd quarter worth $210,000. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH acquired a new position in Eastman Chemical during the 2nd quarter worth $354,000. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eastman Chemical news, SVP Julie A. Mcalindon sold 4,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.84, for a total transaction of $471,623.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $466,013.52. This represents a 50.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Stephen Glenn Crawford sold 10,504 shares of Eastman Chemical stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $1,102,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,287 shares in the company, valued at $4,965,135. This trade represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,021 shares of company stock worth $1,895,948. Corporate insiders own 1.93% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE EMN opened at $91.74 on Friday. Eastman Chemical has a one year low of $80.71 and a one year high of $114.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $10.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $101.20 and its 200-day moving average is $101.27.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.37%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.47 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eastman Chemical Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Eastman Chemical’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EMN has been the topic of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America downgraded Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $114.00 to $119.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com raised Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Eastman Chemical in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $113.92.

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.