Key Points
- Director James Mitarotonda purchased 1,467 shares at an average of $19.54 on Nov. 12, raising his stake to 631,567 shares (a ~0.23% increase); the transaction was filed with the SEC.
- Earnings miss and weak sales: Eastern reported Q3 EPS of $0.13 versus $0.77 expected and revenue of $55.34M versus $73.41M, leaving a negative net margin while shares trade around $19.49 near their 52-week low (market cap ≈ $118.3M).
- Dividend and sentiment: The company declared a $0.11 quarterly dividend (annualized $0.44, ~2.3% yield), Weiss Ratings maintained a "Hold" and institutional investors own about 76.99% of the stock.
Eastern Company (The) (NASDAQ:EML - Get Free Report) Director Frederick Disanto acquired 762 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.47 per share, for a total transaction of $14,836.14. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 91,926 shares in the company, valued at $1,789,799.22. The trade was a 0.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.
Eastern Trading Down 1.5%
EML stock traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $19.49. The company had a trading volume of 7,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,045. The company has a market capitalization of $118.28 million, a PE ratio of -14.77 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $22.46 and a 200 day moving average of $22.87. Eastern Company has a 12 month low of $19.06 and a 12 month high of $31.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.33.
Eastern (NASDAQ:EML - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.64). The firm had revenue of $55.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.41 million. Eastern had a positive return on equity of 10.44% and a negative net margin of 3.06%.
Eastern Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Eastern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.48%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Eastern in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eastern presently has an average rating of "Hold".
Get Our Latest Report on EML
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EML. Minerva Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Eastern by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC now owns 530,053 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $12,435,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in Eastern by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 511,218 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $11,666,000 after purchasing an additional 8,999 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Eastern by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 257,126 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,032,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eastern by 0.4% in the third quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 165,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,871,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teton Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern during the third quarter worth $3,293,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.
Eastern Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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