Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $362.58.

Several equities analysts have commented on ETN shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays lowered their price target on Eaton from $353.00 to $325.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Melius downgraded Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America increased their price target on Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eaton news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.98, for a total transaction of $3,559,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,379,403.94. This trade represents a 18.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ETN. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 83.2% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 4,298 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 321.7% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 97 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of ETN opened at $277.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $108.65 billion, a PE ratio of 29.17, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $320.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $332.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.50. Eaton has a twelve month low of $255.65 and a twelve month high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.01. Eaton had a return on equity of 22.62% and a net margin of 15.25%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Eaton will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Eaton’s payout ratio is currently 43.79%.

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.