Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Declares $0.94 Quarterly Dividend

Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 23rd, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.94 per share by the industrial products company on Friday, May 24th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%.

Eaton has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.6% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 15 consecutive years. Eaton has a payout ratio of 32.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Eaton to earn $11.55 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.76 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.6%.

Eaton Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE:ETN traded up $4.76 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $312.85. The company had a trading volume of 1,404,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,906,869. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $301.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $255.94. Eaton has a twelve month low of $161.12 and a twelve month high of $331.47. The firm has a market cap of $124.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.07.

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. Eaton had a net margin of 13.88% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $5.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.06 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Eaton will post 10.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total transaction of $500,207.07. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,593,380.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total transaction of $1,213,392.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $171,360. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total value of $500,207.07. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,593,380.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,969 shares of company stock worth $10,904,774 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Barclays raised shares of Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $295.60.

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.