The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML) is Teton Advisors Inc.'s 5th Largest Position

Teton Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML - Free Report) by 24.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 173,460 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 54,722 shares during the period. Eastern accounts for about 2.4% of Teton Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Teton Advisors Inc. owned 2.81% of Eastern worth $4,604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Eastern by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,824 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 949 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Eastern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $231,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Eastern by 226.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,247 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 5,027 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Eastern by 719.3% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,431 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 6,524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings 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 worth $427,000 after buying an additional 2,577 shares during the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eastern Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EML traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $19.63. 42,736 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,086. The stock has a market cap of $120.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.06 and a beta of 0.89. The Eastern Company has a fifty-two week low of $19.12 and a fifty-two week high of $35.03. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $25.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.64 and a quick ratio of 1.42.

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

Eastern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -33.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.