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 report published on Wednesday.

Eastern Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EML opened at $27.59 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.64, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.23. Eastern has a 12-month low of $20.50 and a 12-month high of $35.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.79 and a beta of 0.98.

Eastern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Eastern’s payout ratio is -42.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastern

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in shares of Eastern during the third quarter valued at $1,667,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Eastern in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,190,000. American Century Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern during the 2nd quarter valued at about $632,000. Rhumbline Advisers purchased a new position in shares of Eastern during the second quarter valued at approximately $134,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Eastern by 2.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 386,281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,838,000 after purchasing an additional 8,835 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

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.