The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML) is Minerva Advisors LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

Minerva Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 500,978 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,768 shares during the quarter. Eastern accounts for about 7.8% of Minerva Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Minerva Advisors LLC owned 8.11% of Eastern worth $13,296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EML. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Eastern by 72.7% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 28,388 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $921,000 after purchasing an additional 11,952 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in Eastern during the third quarter valued at $1,667,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in Eastern by 45.3% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 13,522 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 4,218 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Eastern by 719.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 6,524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in Eastern by 129.1% during the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 3,086 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 1,739 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.99% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Stock Down 1.6 %

Eastern stock opened at $27.73 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $171.45 million, a PE ratio of -26.92 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.64. The Eastern Company has a one year low of $22.96 and a one year high of $35.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.39 and a 200 day moving average of $29.26.

Eastern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Eastern’s payout ratio is -42.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut Eastern from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th.

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.