Sunflower Bank N.A. Reduces Stock Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Sunflower Bank N.A. trimmed its stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 90 shares during the quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Breakwater Investment Management increased its position in shares of Eaton by 1,560.0% during the second quarter. Breakwater Investment Management now owns 83 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in Eaton by 83.2% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 4,298 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Eaton in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eaton during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Eaton in the third quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eaton news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.58, for a total transaction of $534,554.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,811,696. This represents a 4.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.30, for a total transaction of $1,341,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 51,422 shares in the company, valued at $17,241,796.60. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 76,981 shares of company stock valued at $27,660,117 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETN traded down $0.85 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $340.60. 2,523,103 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,292,568. Eaton Co. plc has a one year low of $236.04 and a one year high of $379.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $355.14 and a 200 day moving average of $328.96. The company has a market cap of $134.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.53.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 21.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ETN shares. Evercore ISI lowered Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $333.00 to $389.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group started coverage on Eaton in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $431.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $367.61.

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.