Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Wednesday morning.

Eastern Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EML opened at $27.88 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.64 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $27.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.31. Eastern has a 52 week low of $22.63 and a 52 week high of $35.78.

Eastern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Eastern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -42.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastern

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eastern in the third quarter worth $1,667,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Eastern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,190,000. American Century Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Eastern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $632,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Eastern by 37.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 52,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,331,000 after purchasing an additional 14,373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eastern by 72.7% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 28,388 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $921,000 after buying an additional 11,952 shares in the last quarter. 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.