The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 53,100 shares, an increase of 17.0% from the May 15th total of 45,400 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 22,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Eastern Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EML opened at $25.41 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $158.30 million, a PE ratio of 16.08 and a beta of 1.08. Eastern has a fifty-two week low of $16.10 and a fifty-two week high of $35.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $29.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.45.

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. The firm had revenue of $67.93 million during the quarter. Eastern had a return on equity of 8.44% and a net margin of 3.69%.

Eastern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. Eastern’s payout ratio is 27.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Anthony Hernandez acquired 2,341 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,249 shares in the company, valued at $1,021,868.51. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 17.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eastern

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Eastern in the fourth quarter worth $75,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Eastern by 7.3% in the first 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. Ancora Advisors LLC raised 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 worth $2,354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Minerva Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Eastern by 3.5% in the third quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC now owns 427,460 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,695,000 after purchasing an additional 14,284 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EML has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eastern from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. TheStreet raised Eastern from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th.

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.