Insider Buying: The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML) Director Buys 1,000 Shares of Stock

The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML - Get Free Report) Director Frederick D. Disanto purchased 1,000 shares of Eastern stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $22.75 per share, for a total transaction of $22,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 78,092 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,776,593. The trade was a 1.30% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Eastern Trading Up 6.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:EML traded up $1.38 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $23.58. 6,290 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,524. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.89 and a beta of 1.08. The business's 50-day moving average price is $22.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.68. 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 Eastern Company has a 12 month low of $19.06 and a 12 month high of $35.03.

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

Eastern Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Eastern's payout ratio is -33.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastern

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EML. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastern in the 1st quarter worth $591,000. Citadel Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Eastern in the 4th quarter valued at $340,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Eastern by 165.2% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 19,221 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 11,974 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Eastern by 3.9% in 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 buying an additional 9,524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Eastern by 43.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 20,533 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $520,000 after buying an additional 6,219 shares during 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.