UPDATE: Gilford Securities Upgrades Eastman Chemical to Buy on Growth Opportunities, Price Correction

Gilford Securities raises its rating on Eastman Chemical

from Hold to Buy with a price target at $54. Gilford Securities notes, "On February 1, we downgraded our rating on Eastman shares from Buy to Hold, partly because they reached our price target, and because of what we saw as too high a price paid for Solutia, plus a 4Q11 earnings slip. Since that time, the stock has dropped by 10%, while the S&P 500 is up 1% over the period. We are now upgrading our rating from Hold back to Buy. Our price target is 9x our 2013 EPS estimate, or $54. The P/E we use might seem conservative, but it reflects our concerns about liberal acquisition (no amortization of goodwill) and pension (a recent change we cannot fathom) accounting, and about Solutia's margins being near peak." EMN closed at $8.68 yesterday.