The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML) Short Interest Update

The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 120,300 shares, a drop of 8.2% from the July 15th total of 131,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 32,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Eastern Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EML traded up $0.95 on Monday, hitting $30.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 15,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,057. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.00. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $188.77 million, a P/E ratio of 18.56 and a beta of 1.04. Eastern has a one year low of $16.10 and a one year high of $35.78.

Eastern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Eastern’s payout ratio is 27.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Eastern from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastern

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Eastern in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,190,000. American Century Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Eastern during the 2nd quarter valued at about $632,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Eastern by 37.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 52,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,331,000 after acquiring an additional 14,373 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Eastern by 2.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 386,281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,838,000 after purchasing an additional 8,835 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Eastern by 38.6% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 20,150 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $513,000 after acquiring an additional 5,610 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.