Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Stock Price Up 1.3% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) rose 1.3% on Friday . The company traded as high as $378.45 and last traded at $376.97. Approximately 259,896 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 2,099,606 shares. The stock had previously closed at $371.98.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ETN shares. UBS Group assumed coverage on Eaton in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $431.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho raised their target price on Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Eaton in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI cut Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $333.00 to $389.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Eaton in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $370.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Eaton has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $357.83.

Eaton Stock Up 1.1 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $347.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $324.22. The stock has a market cap of $148.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.53.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.04. Eaton had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 21.97%. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.47 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Eaton’s payout ratio is 40.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total value of $22,224,561.93. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 506,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,780,769.20. The trade was a 10.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.58, for a total transaction of $534,554.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 31,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,811,696. The trade was a 4.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,981 shares of company stock worth $24,100,317 over the last three months. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eaton

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Eaton in the first quarter worth about $66,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Eaton by 684.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 156,299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $48,872,000 after acquiring an additional 136,387 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 11.1% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 51,794 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,195,000 after purchasing an additional 5,171 shares during the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Eaton by 6.6% in the first quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,941 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Eaton by 14.7% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,230 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Company 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.