The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML) Director Buys $23,250.00 in Stock

The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML - Get Free Report) Director Frederick D. Disanto bought 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $23.25 per share, for a total transaction of $23,250.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 80,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,863,673.50. This trade represents a 1.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Eastern Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:EML traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $23.36. The stock had a trading volume of 6,186 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,353. The Eastern Company has a 1 year low of $19.06 and a 1 year high of $35.03. The firm's 50 day moving average is $22.17 and its 200-day moving average is $25.53. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $143.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.68 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Eastern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Eastern's payout ratio is -33.33%.

Institutional Trading of Eastern

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EML. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in Eastern during the 1st quarter worth $591,000. Citadel Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eastern in the 4th quarter valued at about $340,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Eastern by 165.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 19,221 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $510,000 after acquiring an additional 11,974 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased 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 valued at $6,802,000 after acquiring an additional 9,524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Eastern by 43.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 20,533 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $520,000 after acquiring an additional 6,219 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.