Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.03 EPS

Key Points

• Earnings Report: Eastern reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, with a negative net margin of 3.01% and a positive return on equity of 10.22%.
• Dividend Announcement: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.11 per share, payable on September 15th, representing an annualized yield of 2.0%.
• Stock Activity: Eastern's stock saw a mid-day trading increase of 0.8% to $22.51, with a current ratio of 2.77 and significant institutional ownership at 76.99%.

Eastern (NASDAQ:EML - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The industrial products company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.03, Zacks reports. Eastern had a positive return on equity of 10.44% and a negative net margin of 3.06%. The firm had revenue of $70.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.87 million.

Eastern Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of EML stock traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $22.54. 1,648 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,923. Eastern has a fifty-two week low of $19.06 and a fifty-two week high of $35.03. The stock's 50 day moving average is $23.19 and its 200-day moving average is $24.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market cap of $137.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.08 and a beta of 1.13.

Eastern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Eastern's dividend payout ratio is presently -33.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eastern news, Director Frederick D. Disanto bought 2,000 shares of Eastern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $22.87 per share, with a total value of $45,740.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 75,123 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,718,063.01. This represents a 2.74% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 8,447 shares of company stock worth $193,379. 17.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastern

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Eastern by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 138,918 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,171,000 after purchasing an additional 8,205 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Eastern during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $127,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eastern by 7.1% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 31,855 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $807,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eastern by 43.4% during 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Eastern from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th.

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.