Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday.

Eastern Stock Performance

EML stock opened at $28.19 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $27.40 and a 200-day moving average of $29.23. The firm has a market cap of $174.21 million, a PE ratio of -27.37 and a beta of 0.98. Eastern has a 12-month low of $22.96 and a 12-month high of $35.78. 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. Eastern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -42.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Eastern in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eastern by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 84,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,236,000 after buying an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC bought a new position in Eastern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $340,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Eastern by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 18,088 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $480,000 after acquiring an additional 1,593 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Eastern by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,346 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 915 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.