Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Stake Trimmed by Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 43.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,687 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,835 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $1,156,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Eaton by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,595,656 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,812,966,000 after purchasing an additional 259,615 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Eaton in the 4th quarter worth about $1,087,983,000. Coatue Management LLC increased its stake in Eaton by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 3,986,445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $960,016,000 after purchasing an additional 195,809 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Eaton by 323.8% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Eaton by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,029,795 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $488,815,000 after purchasing an additional 337,351 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Stock Up 2.1 %

ETN opened at $303.39 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $300.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $311.32. Eaton Co. plc has a twelve month low of $191.82 and a twelve month high of $345.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.56. The firm has a market cap of $121.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.01.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.12. Eaton had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 15.12%. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.35 billion. Research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.74 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ETN shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Eaton from $376.00 to $371.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Eaton from $357.00 to $333.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Eaton from $370.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Eaton in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $370.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Eaton from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $335.18.

Insider Transactions at Eaton

In other news, insider Taras G. Jr. Szmagala sold 335 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.72, for a total transaction of $96,721.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,900 shares in the company, valued at $2,858,328. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Dorothy C. Thompson bought 2,205 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $300.30 per share, for a total transaction of $662,161.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $662,161.50. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Taras G. Jr. Szmagala sold 335 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.72, for a total value of $96,721.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,858,328. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,511 shares of company stock worth $15,809,326 over the last three months. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.