Barclays Raises Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Price Target to $318.00

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) had its price objective lifted by Barclays from $316.00 to $318.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

ETN has been the subject of a number of other reports. HSBC boosted their price objective on Eaton from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Argus boosted their price objective on Eaton from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Wolfe Research reissued an underperform rating and set a $312.00 price objective on shares of Eaton in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Eaton from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $286.00 to $371.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $323.06.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of Eaton stock opened at $330.51 on Wednesday. Eaton has a one year low of $191.82 and a one year high of $345.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.02, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $325.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $298.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.12. Eaton had a return on equity of 20.69% and a net margin of 14.38%. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Eaton will post 10.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. Eaton’s payout ratio is 44.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other Eaton news, insider Peter Denk sold 2,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.84, for a total transaction of $801,725.44. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,687,738.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eaton

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ETN. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter worth $1,087,983,000. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 323.8% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,192,576 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $998,255,000 after purchasing an additional 2,439,270 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 2,857.4% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,262,479 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $394,752,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,790 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 2,006.8% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 964,728 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $232,326,000 after purchasing an additional 918,936 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 207.5% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 970,426 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $233,698,000 after purchasing an additional 654,855 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

About Eaton

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.