Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) Downgraded by StockNews.com

Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Eastern Price Performance

EML traded down $0.37 during trading on Thursday, reaching $28.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 25,496 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,551. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.50. The company has a market cap of $179.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.25 and a beta of 1.04. Eastern has a 1 year low of $16.10 and a 1 year high of $35.78.

Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter. Eastern had a net margin of 3.69% and a return on equity of 8.44%. The firm had revenue of $67.93 million for the quarter.

Insider Transactions at Eastern

In other news, CEO Mark Anthony Hernandez purchased 2,341 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $28.99 per share, for a total transaction of $67,865.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,021,868.51. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 17.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eastern

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Eastern by 7.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 15,356 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eastern by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 69,047 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern in the 4th quarter valued at $75,000. 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.