Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) Director James Mitarotonda Buys 1,839 Shares

Eastern Company (The) (NASDAQ:EML) Director James Mitarotonda purchased 1,839 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $19.55 per share, for a total transaction of $35,952.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 42,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $836,622.70. This trade represents a 4.49% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Eastern Stock Performance

Shares of EML stock traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $19.81. 327 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,143. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.22 million, a PE ratio of 15.97 and a beta of 1.00. Eastern Company has a 12 month low of $18.49 and a 12 month high of $30.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $20.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.37.

Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.64). Eastern had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 7.18%. The company had revenue of $55.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.41 million.

Eastern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. Eastern’s payout ratio is presently 35.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Eastern has an average rating of “Hold”.

Institutional Trading of Eastern

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Minerva Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Eastern by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC now owns 530,053 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,435,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its holdings in shares of Eastern by 1.8% in the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 511,218 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,666,000 after buying an additional 8,999 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Eastern by 0.3% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 257,126 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,032,000 after acquiring an additional 775 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its stake in Eastern by 0.4% during the third quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 165,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,871,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teton Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Eastern in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,293,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

About Eastern

The Eastern Company designs, manufactures, and sells engineered solutions to industrial markets in the United States and internationally. The company offers turnkey returnable packaging solutions, which are used in the assembly processes of vehicles, aircraft, and durable goods, as well as in production processes of plastic packaging products, packaged consumer goods, and pharmaceuticals; designs and manufactures blow mold tools and injection blow mold tooling products, and 2-step stretch blow molds and related components for the stretch blow molding industry; and supplies blow molds and change parts to the food, beverage, healthcare, and chemical industries.