The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML) Director Purchases $22,750.00 in Stock

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

Eastern Trading Up 5.2%

NASDAQ:EML traded up $1.17 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $23.37. 3,441 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,506. The stock has a market capitalization of $143.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.68 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.64, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The Eastern Company has a one year low of $19.06 and a one year high of $35.03.

Eastern (NASDAQ:EML - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $63.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $71.33 million.

Eastern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Eastern's payout ratio is -33.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Eastern by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 29,755 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $790,000 after buying an additional 1,367 shares during the period. Minerva Advisors LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 3,768 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Eastern by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 16,099 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 2,577 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eastern by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,491 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 4,030 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

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.