Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Cuts Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 53.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,638 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,604 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $2,203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Eaton by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 46,904 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,566,000 after purchasing an additional 5,308 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its position in Eaton by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 61,627 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,452,000 after purchasing an additional 6,553 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. lifted its position in Eaton by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 36,536 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,125,000 after purchasing an additional 7,761 shares during the period. Fiduciary Trust Co increased its holdings in Eaton by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 26,670 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,851,000 after buying an additional 1,449 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FWL Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Eaton by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC now owns 22,852 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,584,000 after buying an additional 1,643 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eaton Stock Performance

ETN opened at $330.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.46 billion, a PE ratio of 34.83, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.14. Eaton Co. plc has a twelve month low of $231.85 and a twelve month high of $379.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $284.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $319.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The industrial products company reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.70 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $6.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.26 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 22.62%. Eaton’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Eaton’s payout ratio is 41.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other Eaton news, insider Craig Arnold sold 103,486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.75, for a total value of $33,400,106.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 490,208 shares in the company, valued at $158,214,632. The trade was a 17.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael Yelton sold 2,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.87, for a total transaction of $629,364.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,382 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,014.34. The trade was a 38.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 156,660 shares of company stock worth $49,622,894 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on ETN. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $325.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Eaton from $315.00 to $306.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $336.00 to $356.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Eaton from $385.00 to $375.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $361.13.

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.