Blair William & Co. IL Increases Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 32.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 82,888 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,275 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Eaton were worth $27,508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ETN. United Bank acquired a new position in shares of Eaton in the 3rd quarter valued at $258,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Eaton by 2.1% in the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 2,116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $699,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 48.1% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 5,081 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,684,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651 shares during the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Eaton by 117.2% during the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,433 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $806,000 after purchasing an additional 1,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 86,571 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,693,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays cut their price target on Eaton from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Melius Research reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.16.

Eaton Stock Performance

NYSE:ETN opened at $281.04 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $110.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $307.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $331.22. Eaton Co. plc has a twelve month low of $255.65 and a twelve month high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 1.48%. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.