LSV Asset Management Increases Stock Position in The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML)

LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML) by 38.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,150 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,610 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management owned 0.32% of Eastern worth $513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eastern by 1.8% during the first 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. Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eastern during the fourth quarter valued at $75,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eastern by 7.3% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 15,356 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers bought a new position in Eastern in the second quarter valued at about $134,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Eastern in the second quarter valued at about $110,000. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastern Stock Up 4.1 %

NASDAQ EML opened at $30.61 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $28.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The Eastern Company has a 52 week low of $16.10 and a 52 week high of $35.78. The company has a market capitalization of $190.82 million, a P/E ratio of 19.37 and a beta of 1.02.

Eastern (NASDAQ:EML) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter. Eastern had a return on equity of 9.05% and a net margin of 4.40%. The firm had revenue of $73.15 million for the quarter.

Eastern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Eastern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised Eastern from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd.

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.