KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Purchases Shares of 141,189 Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 141,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,856,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter valued at about $319,000. Marietta Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Eaton by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Marietta Investment Partners LLC now owns 27,491 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,123,000 after buying an additional 2,503 shares during the last quarter. Umpqua Bank raised its position in shares of Eaton by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 2,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $745,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Eaton by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 604,449 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $200,598,000 after buying an additional 27,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestor Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Eaton by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 12,502 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,149,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ETN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Melius Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.68.

Eaton Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ETN opened at $295.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. Eaton Co. plc has a 1-year low of $255.65 and a 1-year high of $379.99. The company’s fifty day moving average is $311.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $331.08. 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 (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.01. Eaton had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 22.62%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.55 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s payout ratio is 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.