UPDATE: Citigroup Reiterates Buy Rating, Raises PT on Eastman Chemical Company

In a report published Wednesday, Citigroup reiterated its Buy rating on Eastman Chemical Company EMN, and raised its price target from $57.00 to $62.00. Citigroup noted, “We rate the shares of EMN Buy. Management has significantly transformed its portfolio over the past several years by divesting parts of its CASPI product lines, PE & PET assets, followed by the acquisition of specialty plasticizer assets of Genovique and Sterling. Rounding out the portfolio transformation was the acquisition of Solutia, which is a true specialty company as seen from its EBITDA margins of 25%. The Solutia deal also gives EMN a good footprint in Asia-Pacific, where Solutia derived ~30% of sales in 2011. We think EMN has transformed its portfolio significantly, much ahead of many chemical competitors including restarting its propane-based cracker in Longview, TX in 2010 to take advantage of ‘shale supremacy' in the US.” Eastman Chemical Company closed on Tuesday at $52.28.