The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 35,700 shares, a decrease of 9.8% from the March 15th total of 39,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 11,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days. Approximately 0.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Eastern from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. TheStreet raised shares of Eastern from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th.

Eastern Stock Performance

Shares of Eastern stock traded down $1.96 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $29.38. The company had a trading volume of 27,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,273. The stock has a market cap of $182.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.17 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.94. Eastern has a 12-month low of $16.10 and a 12-month high of $35.78.

Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 12th. The industrial products company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $67.00 million during the quarter. Eastern had a net margin of 3.14% and a return on equity of 8.80%.

Eastern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 15th were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. Eastern’s payout ratio is currently 32.12%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastern

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Eastern by 157.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,474 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 902 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in Eastern by 134.7% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,370 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 1,360 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Eastern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $75,000. Comerica Bank purchased a new position in Eastern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $66,000. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its position in Eastern by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,559 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.