Eastman Chemical Company EMN said that its board has hiked the quarterly cash dividend on the company’s common stock by 11% to 51 cents per share from 46 cents per share. The dividend is payable on Jan 3, 2017 to shareholders on record as of Dec 15, 2016.
This is for the seventh consecutive year that Eastman Chemical has increased the dividend. The dividend hike is in sync with the company’s strategy of a balanced and disciplined capital allocation along with shareholder returns.
Price
Eastman Chemical’s share price has gained 8.50% compared with the Zacks-categorized chemical industry rate, which has fallen 1.85% in the past three months. The company gained from strong growth of its high value products and its cost-reduction actions in the last reported quarter. However, its sales fell year over year on lower pricing.
Eastman Chemical remains focused on cost cutting and productivity actions amid a challenging operating environment. The company is looking to reduce at least $100 million of costs by the end of 2016. Further, the company should gain from its strategic acquisitions. Additionally, Eastman Chemical remains committed to reduce debt and boost shareholder returns leveraging healthy free cash flows.
Other Stocks to Consider
Eastman Chemical currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Other well-placed companies in the chemical space include The Chemours Company CC, FMC Corp. FMC and Celanese Corp. CE.
Chemours sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). The company has an expected earnings growth of 44.7% for the current year. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
FMC also sports a Zacks Rank #1 and has an expected earnings growth of around 14.1% for the current year.
Celanese has an expected earnings growth of around 9.5% for the current year. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #2.
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