Short Interest in Eastern Company (The) (NASDAQ:EML) Declines By 47.7%

Key Points

• Short interest in Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML) has experienced a significant decline of 47.7% in August, dropping to 25,800 shares from 49,300 shares.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.57, exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.54, alongside revenues of $70.16 million.
• Eastern Company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.11 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.7%.

Eastern Company (The) (NASDAQ:EML - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 25,800 shares, a drop of 47.7% from the August 15th total of 49,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 10,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days. Approximately 0.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Approximately 0.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 10,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Eastern Stock Up 0.6%

EML stock opened at $25.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a market capitalization of $154.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.23 and a beta of 1.00. Eastern has a fifty-two week low of $19.06 and a fifty-two week high of $35.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $23.42 and a 200-day moving average of $23.54.

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

Eastern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Eastern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -33.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Frederick D. Disanto purchased 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $22.58 per share, for a total transaction of $67,740.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 86,449 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,952,018.42. The trade was a 3.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 7,326 shares of company stock worth $166,901. Company insiders own 17.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Eastern by 7,124.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,962 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 2,921 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Eastern by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 47,336 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,256,000 after purchasing an additional 2,077 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Eastern by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,346 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 915 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Eastern by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 18,088 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 1,593 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Eastern in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. 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.

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