BNP Paribas Financial Markets Boosts Stock Position in The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML) by 719.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,524 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned about 0.12% of Eastern worth $241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EML. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new position in Eastern during the third quarter worth about $1,667,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Eastern during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,190,000. American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern in the second quarter worth approximately $632,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Eastern by 37.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 52,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,331,000 after acquiring an additional 14,373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Eastern by 72.7% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 28,388 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $921,000 after purchasing an additional 11,952 shares during the period. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastern Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EML opened at $28.72 on Tuesday. The Eastern Company has a fifty-two week low of $20.50 and a fifty-two week high of $35.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $30.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.22. The company has a market cap of $177.58 million, a P/E ratio of -27.88 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Eastern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Eastern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -42.72%.

Eastern 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.