StockNews.com Upgrades Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) to Strong-Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Friday morning.

Eastern Trading Down 3.8 %

NASDAQ EML opened at $26.63 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.63. Eastern has a one year low of $16.10 and a one year high of $35.78. The firm has a market cap of $166.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.85 and a beta of 1.04.

Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $67.93 million for the quarter. Eastern had a net margin of 3.69% and a return on equity of 8.44%.

Eastern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. Eastern’s payout ratio is currently 27.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eastern news, CEO Mark Anthony Hernandez bought 2,341 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.99 per share, with a total value of $67,865.59. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,021,868.51. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 17.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastern

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Eastern in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,190,000. Rhumbline Advisers purchased a new position in Eastern in the 2nd quarter valued at $134,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Eastern by 37.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 52,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,331,000 after buying an additional 14,373 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its position in Eastern by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 69,047 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,354,000 after buying an additional 1,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Eastern by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 15,356 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $523,000 after buying an additional 1,050 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.