Eastman Chemical hikes dividend by 4.5%

Eastman Chemical (EMN) will raise its quarterly dividend by 4.5 percent to 69 cents. This follows a 6.5 percent hike to $0.66 per share announced in 2019. This also marks the 11th consecutive year of dividend increases by the materials and specialty additives company.

The next dividend is payable January 8, 2021, to stockholders of record as of December 15, 2020. A new annualized dividend rate of $2.76 per share yields 2.7% at a stock price of $102.

“I am pleased that for the 11th consecutive year, Eastman is increasing the dividend as part of our ongoing commitment to return cash to our stockholders,” said Willie McLain, senior vice president and chief financial officer. “This action reflects the Board’s confidence in our ability to deliver earnings growth and continue our record of generating strong cash flow, which has remained resilient even during the global pandemic.”

Eastman Chemical Company (Eastman) is a global advanced materials and specialty additives company. The company's operating segments are: Additives & Functional Products ("AFP"), Advanced Materials ("AM"), Chemical Intermediates ("CI"), and Fibers. Through AFP Eastman manufactures chemicals for products in the transportation, consumables, building and construction, animal nutrition, crop protection, energy, personal and home care, and other markets. AM produces and markets polymers, films, and plastics. The CI segment leverages large scale and vertical integration from the cellulose and acetyl, olefins, and alkylamines streams. In the Fibers segment, Eastman manufactures acetate tow and triacetin plasticizers for use in filtration media, primarily cigarette filters. Eastman began business in 1920 for the purpose of producing chemicals for Eastman Kodak Company's photographic business and became a public company, incorporated in Delaware, on December 31, 1993.