Short Interest in The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML) Increases By 5.9%

The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 39,600 shares, a growth of 5.9% from the February 29th total of 37,400 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 7,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EML has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TheStreet raised Eastern from a "c" rating to a "b-" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Eastern from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th.

Eastern Price Performance

Shares of EML stock traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $32.68. 22,380 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,731. Eastern has a twelve month low of $16.10 and a twelve month high of $35.78. The firm has a market cap of $202.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.04 and a beta of 1.15. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $26.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 2.63.

Eastern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. Eastern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.12%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastern

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EML. Minerva Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eastern by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC now owns 427,460 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $7,695,000 after acquiring an additional 14,284 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Eastern by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 20,511 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,483 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Eastern by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,663 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Eastern by 469.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 17,168 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 14,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna International Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Eastern in the 1st quarter worth $245,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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