Koss Olinger Consulting LLC Buys Shares of 23,337 Eastern Company (The) (NASDAQ:EML)

Key Points

• Koss Olinger Consulting LLC invested approximately $591,000 in Eastern Company, acquiring 23,337 shares, which represents about 0.38% ownership.
• Eastern Company reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.57, exceeding estimates by $0.03, with revenues of $70.16 million.
• The company declared a $0.11 per share quarterly dividend, with an ex-dividend date on August 15th, representing an annual yield of 2.0%.

Koss Olinger Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Company (The) (NASDAQ:EML - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 23,337 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $591,000. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC owned approximately 0.38% of Eastern at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Minerva Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Eastern by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC now owns 505,987 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $12,812,000 after purchasing an additional 5,009 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings 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 valued at $10,378,000 after buying an additional 3,686 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Eastern by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 256,278 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,802,000 after acquiring an additional 9,524 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Eastern by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 128,232 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,404,000 after acquiring an additional 1,124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Eastern by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 84,256 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,236,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Frederick D. Disanto bought 1,923 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $22.20 per share, for a total transaction of $42,690.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 75,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,666,021.20. This trade represents a 2.63% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 8,743 shares of company stock worth $200,038. Insiders own 17.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Eastern Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ EML traded down $0.62 during trading on Thursday, hitting $23.47. 3,730 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,520. The business's fifty day moving average is $23.25 and its 200 day moving average is $24.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.17 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.78 and a beta of 1.13. 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 Company has a fifty-two week low of $19.06 and a fifty-two week high of $35.03.

Eastern (NASDAQ:EML - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.03. Eastern had a positive return on equity of 10.44% and a negative net margin of 3.06%. The company had revenue of $70.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.87 million.

Eastern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Eastern's payout ratio is currently -33.33%.

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.