Gabelli Funds LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML)

Gabelli Funds LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Eastern Company (NASDAQ:EML) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 169,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC owned approximately 2.74% of Eastern worth $4,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Eastern by 13.8% in the fourth 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 period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Eastern by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 256,278 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,802,000 after purchasing an additional 9,524 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Eastern by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 128,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,404,000 after buying an additional 1,124 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Eastern by 165.2% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 19,221 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 11,974 shares during the period. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its holdings in Eastern by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 55,395 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after buying an additional 4,030 shares in the last quarter. 76.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eastern Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of EML opened at $19.63 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.64, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $120.25 million, a P/E ratio of -19.06 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $25.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.90. The Eastern Company has a 12 month low of $19.12 and a 12 month high of $35.03.

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

Eastern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Eastern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -33.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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 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.