The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML) Shares Sold by Minerva Advisors LLC

Minerva Advisors LLC decreased its stake in The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 497,210 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,814 shares during the quarter. Eastern accounts for about 9.2% of Minerva Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Minerva Advisors LLC owned 7.98% of Eastern worth $15,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Eastern by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 386,281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,838,000 after purchasing an additional 8,835 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Eastern by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 69,047 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,354,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake 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 worth $1,331,000 after acquiring an additional 14,373 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Eastern in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,190,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Eastern by 72.7% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 28,388 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $921,000 after acquiring an additional 11,952 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Price Performance

Shares of Eastern stock opened at $27.50 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $31.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.23. 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 Eastern Company has a 1 year low of $18.00 and a 1 year high of $35.78.

Eastern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Eastern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -42.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.