Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) Share Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average of $26.83

The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML)’s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $26.83 and traded as high as $28.08. Eastern shares last traded at $26.60, with a volume of 38,881 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TheStreet upgraded shares of Eastern from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eastern from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th.

Eastern Stock Up 1.3 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $27.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.83. The firm has a market cap of $167.90 million, a P/E ratio of 17.06 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

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

Eastern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. Eastern’s payout ratio is currently 27.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastern

In other Eastern news, CEO Mark Anthony Hernandez acquired 2,341 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $28.99 per share, for a total transaction of $67,865.59. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,021,868.51. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 17.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastern

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Eastern in the fourth quarter valued at $75,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eastern by 7.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 15,356 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eastern by 1.8% in the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 69,047 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Minerva Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eastern by 3.5% in the third quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC now owns 427,460 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,695,000 after purchasing an additional 14,284 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently 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.