Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) Stock Crosses Below 200 Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

Key Points

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Eastern Company (The) (NASDAQ:EML - Get Free Report)'s share price passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $24.01 and traded as low as $21.85. Eastern shares last traded at $22.59, with a volume of 18,791 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut Eastern from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th.

Eastern Trading Up 9.1%

The stock has a market capitalization of $148.17 million, a P/E ratio of -18.40 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $23.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Eastern (NASDAQ:EML - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $70.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.87 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Eastern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastern

In other news, Director Frederick D. Disanto purchased 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $22.58 per share, for a total transaction of $67,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders purchased 12,347 shares of company stock worth $280,605 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 17.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastern

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EML. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Eastern by 218.2% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,120 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Eastern by 295.9% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,738 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Eastern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eastern during the second quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Eastern by 7,124.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,962 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 2,921 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by 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.