Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) Director James Mitarotonda Purchases 933 Shares

Eastern Company (The) (NASDAQ:EML) Director James Mitarotonda acquired 933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.79 per share, with a total value of $18,464.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 632,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,517,175. The trade was a 0.15% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Eastern Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ EML traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $19.49. The company had a trading volume of 7,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,045. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.87. Eastern Company has a 52-week low of $19.06 and a 52-week high of $31.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $118.28 million, a P/E ratio of -14.77 and a beta of 0.98.

Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.64). The firm had revenue of $55.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.41 million. Eastern had a positive return on equity of 10.44% and a negative net margin of 3.06%.

Eastern Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Eastern’s payout ratio is presently 35.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastern

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EML. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Eastern by 43.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 20,533 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 6,219 shares during the period. Minerva Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Eastern by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC now owns 505,987 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,812,000 after acquiring an additional 5,009 shares during the period. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $591,000. Teton Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,293,000. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in Eastern by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 165,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,871,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.