Allstate Corp Acquires New Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Allstate Corp bought a new position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 11,833 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,927,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Eaton by 48.9% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 41,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,533,000 after buying an additional 13,497 shares during the period. Lighthouse Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter worth $297,000. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 17,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,949,000 after acquiring an additional 6,166 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 9,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,072,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Eaton by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 14,494 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ETN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Melius cut shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Melius Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $373.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $357.16.

Eaton Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of ETN opened at $274.05 on Friday. 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 Co. plc has a fifty-two week low of $255.65 and a fifty-two week high of $379.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $305.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $331.12. The firm has a market cap of $107.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.85, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business earned $2.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.79%.

Eaton Profile

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.