Tufton Capital Management Has $323,000 Stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Tufton Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 93 shares during the quarter. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in Eaton were worth $323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Peterson Wealth Services acquired a new position in Eaton during the 4th quarter worth about $2,889,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Eaton by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 71,918 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,319,000 after buying an additional 2,460 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in Eaton by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 2,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $636,000 after buying an additional 1,190 shares during the period. KLCM Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Eaton by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 3,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $847,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Scissortail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Eaton during the 4th quarter worth about $7,755,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Eaton

In related news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total value of $3,796,067.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 69,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,244,140.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total transaction of $3,796,067.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 69,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,244,140.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total value of $500,207.07. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,593,380.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,969 shares of company stock valued at $10,904,774 over the last 90 days. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ETN. Royal Bank of Canada raised Eaton from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $286.00 to $371.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Eaton from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Eaton currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $295.60.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETN traded up $4.35 during trading on Thursday, hitting $314.53. 545,710 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,874,601. The company has a market cap of $125.65 billion, a PE ratio of 38.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $299.48 and a 200 day moving average of $253.53. Eaton Co. plc has a 52-week low of $161.12 and a 52-week high of $331.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $5.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 13.88% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.28 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.88%.

Eaton Company Profile

Eaton Corporation plc operates as a power management company worldwide. The company's Electrical Americas and Electrical Global segment provides electrical components, industrial components, power distribution and assemblies, residential products, single and three phase power quality and connectivity products, wiring devices, circuit protection products, utility power distribution products, power reliability equipment, and services, as well as hazardous duty electrical equipment, emergency lighting, fire detection, explosion-proof instrumentation, and structural support systems.