Short Interest in The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML) Drops By 26.0%

The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 32,200 shares, a decrease of 26.0% from the February 13th total of 43,500 shares. Currently, 0.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 10,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Eastern Stock Up 1.3 %

EML traded up $0.34 during trading on Monday, hitting $27.18. 6,494 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,215. Eastern has a fifty-two week low of $23.15 and a fifty-two week high of $35.78. The stock has a market cap of $166.50 million, a P/E ratio of -26.39 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s 50 day moving average is $27.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The industrial products company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $66.70 million for the quarter. Eastern had a negative net margin of 2.26% and a positive return on equity of 10.44%.

Eastern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Eastern’s payout ratio is currently -33.08%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastern

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Eastern by 218.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Eastern in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Eastern by 129.1% during the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 3,086 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,739 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Eastern by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,824 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Eastern by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,346 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 915 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut Eastern from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th.

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.