Citadel Advisors LLC Invests $340,000 in The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML)

Citadel Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 12,802 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $340,000. Citadel Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.21% of Eastern as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Minerva Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eastern by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC now owns 500,978 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $13,296,000 after acquiring an additional 3,768 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Eastern by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 391,042 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $10,378,000 after purchasing an additional 3,686 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Eastern by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 256,278 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,802,000 after purchasing an additional 9,524 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Eastern by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 128,232 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its position in shares of Eastern by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 55,395 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 4,030 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Eastern Stock Performance

Shares of Eastern stock traded up $1.38 on Friday, hitting $23.58. 6,290 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,517. The Eastern Company has a 1 year low of $19.06 and a 1 year high of $35.03. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.95 million, a PE ratio of -22.89 and a beta of 1.08.

Eastern (NASDAQ:EML - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.10). Eastern had a negative net margin of 2.26% and a positive return on equity of 10.44%. The company had revenue of $63.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $71.33 million.

Eastern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Eastern's dividend payout ratio is currently -33.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eastern news, Director Frederick D. Disanto purchased 1,923 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $22.20 per share, with a total value of $42,690.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 75,046 shares in the company, valued at $1,666,021.20. The trade was a 2.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders bought a total of 7,365 shares of company stock worth $168,217 over the last three months. 17.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Eastern 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.