Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) Stock Crosses Below 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Eastern Company (The) (NASDAQ:EML) crossed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $23.02 and traded as low as $21.46. Eastern shares last traded at $21.46, with a volume of 6,017 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Eastern in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Sell”.

Eastern Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $130.91 million, a P/E ratio of -16.26 and a beta of 0.96. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 16th. The industrial products company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $71.64 million during the quarter. Eastern had a negative net margin of 3.06% and a positive return on equity of 10.44%.

Eastern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Eastern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eastern news, Director Frederick D. Disanto purchased 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $22.58 per share, for a total transaction of $67,740.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 86,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,018.42. This trade represents a 3.60% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 7,310 shares of company stock valued at $166,533. 17.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastern

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Eastern by 7,124.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 2,921 shares in the last quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eastern by 1.0% in the first quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC now owns 505,987 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,812,000 after purchasing an additional 5,009 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Eastern by 43.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 20,533 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $520,000 after buying an additional 6,219 shares in the last quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC bought a new position in Eastern during the first quarter valued at approximately $591,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Eastern by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 18,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $421,000 after buying an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.