Investors Purchase Large Volume of Eastman Chemical Call Options (NYSE:EMN)

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors acquired 3,004 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 674% compared to the average daily volume of 388 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Eastman Chemical from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Eastman Chemical from $113.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Eastman Chemical from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $125.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.08.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of EMN. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its position in 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. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in Eastman Chemical by 94.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Finally, Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastman Chemical in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Eastman Chemical Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Eastman Chemical stock opened at $88.55 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43. Eastman Chemical has a 1-year low of $86.70 and a 1-year high of $114.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.27. Eastman Chemical had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.27%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Eastman Chemical will post 8.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastman Chemical Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Eastman Chemical’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.23%.

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.