Teton Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML)

Teton Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML - Free Report) by 24.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 173,460 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 54,722 shares during the quarter. Eastern comprises about 2.4% of Teton Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Teton Advisors Inc. owned approximately 2.81% of Eastern worth $4,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EML. Barclays PLC grew its position in Eastern by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,824 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 949 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Eastern in the 3rd quarter valued at $231,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Eastern by 226.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,247 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 5,027 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Eastern by 719.3% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Eastern by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 16,099 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 2,577 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Eastern from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th.

Eastern Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EML traded up $0.12 on Friday, reaching $19.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 42,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,104. The Eastern Company has a 52-week low of $19.12 and a 52-week high of $35.03. The stock's 50-day moving average is $25.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.82. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $120.25 million, a P/E ratio of -19.06 and a beta of 0.89.

Eastern (NASDAQ:EML - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 11th. The industrial products company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $66.70 million during the quarter. Eastern had a positive return on equity of 10.44% and a negative net margin of 2.26%.

Eastern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Eastern's payout ratio is currently -33.08%.

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.