Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) Director Purchases $19,390.00 in Stock

Eastern Company (The) (NASDAQ:EML) Director Frederick Disanto purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.39 per share, for a total transaction of $19,390.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 92,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,801,835.14. The trade was a 1.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Eastern Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:EML traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $18.80. 17,806 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,100. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business’s 50 day moving average is $22.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.10 million, a PE ratio of -14.24 and a beta of 0.98. Eastern Company has a one year low of $18.49 and a one year high of $31.67.

Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.64). The business had revenue of $55.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.41 million. 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 will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Eastern’s payout ratio is 35.48%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Eastern by 82.9% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,273 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eastern by 0.4% in the third quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 165,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,871,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Eastern by 3.5% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 18,455 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 617 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Eastern by 0.3% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 257,126 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,032,000 after buying an additional 775 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Eastern by 1.6% during the third quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 67,001 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,572,000 after buying an additional 1,025 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Eastern Company Profile

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.