Short Interest in The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML) Declines By 20.1%

The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 40,600 shares, a decrease of 20.1% from the June 15th total of 50,800 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 36,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.1 days.

Eastern Stock Up 6.4 %

EML stock traded up $1.83 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $30.50. 25,993 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,657. The company has a current ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $27.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $190.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.46 and a beta of 1.04. Eastern has a 52-week low of $16.10 and a 52-week high of $35.78.

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

Eastern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. Eastern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, TheStreet raised Eastern from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th.

Insider Activity at Eastern

In related news, CEO Mark Anthony Hernandez bought 2,341 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $28.99 per share, with a total value of $67,865.59. Following the purchase, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 17.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastern

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EML. Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Eastern in the 4th quarter valued at $75,000. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Eastern by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 15,356 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares in 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.