Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) Director John Everets Acquires 1,435 Shares

Eastern Company (The) (NASDAQ:EML) Director John Everets bought 1,435 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.55 per share, with a total value of $28,054.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 139,855 shares in the company, valued at $2,734,165.25. This represents a 1.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Eastern Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EML traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $19.65. 9,430 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,184. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.99 and a quick ratio of 1.30. Eastern Company has a 52-week low of $18.49 and a 52-week high of $30.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.85 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $20.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.39.

Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Eastern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastern

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Teton Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Eastern during the third quarter worth $3,293,000. Minerva Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Eastern by 3.8% in the second quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC now owns 525,053 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,982,000 after buying an additional 19,066 shares in the last quarter. GatePass Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Eastern by 87.8% in the third quarter. GatePass Capital LLC now owns 33,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $793,000 after acquiring an additional 15,800 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastern in the second quarter worth about $326,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Eastern by 71.5% during the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 23,403 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 9,753 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.