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

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

Eastern Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Eastern stock opened at $26.23 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $162.10 million, a P/E ratio of -25.47 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s fifty day moving average is $27.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.64. Eastern has a 1 year low of $22.63 and a 1 year high of $35.78.

Eastern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.68%. Eastern’s dividend payout ratio is -42.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Eastern by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 16,099 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 2,577 shares in the last quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eastern by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC now owns 500,978 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,296,000 after acquiring an additional 3,768 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eastern by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 29,755 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $790,000 after acquiring an additional 1,367 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Eastern by 226.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $235,000 after acquiring an additional 5,027 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Eastern by 277.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,875 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 5,055 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

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.