FY2018 EPS Estimates for Eastman Chemical Boosted by Analyst (EMN)

Stock analysts at Jefferies Group increased their FY2018 earnings per share estimates for shares of Eastman Chemical in a report issued on Tuesday, according to Zacks Investment Research. Jefferies Group analyst L. Alexander now anticipates that the basic materials company will post earnings per share of $8.50 for the year, up from their prior estimate of $8.00. Jefferies Group also issued estimates for Eastman Chemical’s FY2019 earnings at $9.15 EPS and FY2020 earnings at $9.90 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on EMN. Wells Fargo & Co reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (up previously from $108.00) on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Tuesday. Cowen reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Eastman Chemical in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Eastman Chemical from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Zacks Investment Research cut Eastman Chemical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, SunTrust Banks upped their price target on Eastman Chemical to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Eastman Chemical has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.60.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) opened at $102.41 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14,455.87, a PE ratio of 10.12, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Eastman Chemical has a fifty-two week low of $76.02 and a fifty-two week high of $104.08.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE:EMN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Eastman Chemical had a return on equity of 22.67% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.51 EPS.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 14th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Eastman Chemical’s payout ratio is currently 22.13%.

In other Eastman Chemical news, insider Lucian Boldea sold 3,325 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $315,875.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark J. Costa sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.26, for a total value of $5,404,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,928,495.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,742 shares of company stock valued at $6,555,051 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. RNC Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eastman Chemical by 0.5% during the second quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 3,278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 17,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,605,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 50,472 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,675,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 14.5% in the second quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 4,495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Psagot Investment House Ltd. grew its position in shares of Eastman Chemical by 60.0% in the third quarter. Psagot Investment House Ltd. now owns 1,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. 84.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eastman Chemical Company Profile

Eastman Chemical Company (Eastman) is an advanced materials and specialty additives company. The Company’s segments include Additives & Functional Products (AFP), Advanced Materials (AM), Chemical Intermediates (CI), and Fibers. In the AFP segment, it manufactures chemicals for products in the coatings, tires, consumables, building and construction, industrial applications, including solar energy markets, animal nutrition, care chemicals, crop protection, and energy markets.

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