The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML) Short Interest Update

The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 23,300 shares, a decline of 32.1% from the May 15th total of 34,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 10,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity at Eastern

In other news, Director Frederick D. Disanto purchased 1,116 shares of Eastern stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $23.22 per share, for a total transaction of $25,913.52. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 73,123 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,697,916.06. This trade represents a 1.55% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 8,431 shares of company stock worth $193,011. Corporate insiders own 17.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Eastern

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EML. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Eastern by 218.2% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,120 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 768 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Eastern during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Eastern by 7,124.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,962 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 2,921 shares during the period. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Eastern during the first quarter valued at about $127,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Eastern by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,824 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 949 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastern Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:EML opened at $22.91 on Tuesday. Eastern has a 52-week low of $19.06 and a 52-week high of $35.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $22.18 and a 200 day moving average of $25.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.80 million, a PE ratio of -22.22 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.64.

Eastern (NASDAQ:EML - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 negative net margin of 2.26% and a positive return on equity of 10.44%. The business had revenue of $63.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $71.33 million.

Eastern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. Eastern's payout ratio is -33.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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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