Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Short Interest Update

Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,730,000 shares, a decline of 7.1% from the January 15th total of 5,090,000 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,560,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.98, for a total transaction of $3,559,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,379,403.94. The trade was a 18.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.58, for a total value of $534,554.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,200 shares in the company, valued at $11,811,696. The trade was a 4.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eaton

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new position in Eaton in the fourth quarter valued at about $518,000. GTS Securities LLC raised its position in Eaton by 319.1% in the fourth quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 2,213 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685 shares during the last quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in Eaton in the fourth quarter valued at about $566,000. Breed s Hill Capital LLC raised its position in Eaton by 122.7% in the fourth quarter. Breed s Hill Capital LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. raised its position in Eaton by 125.0% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 6,714 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,228,000 after purchasing an additional 3,730 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of ETN stock opened at $313.04 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Eaton has a twelve month low of $255.65 and a twelve month high of $379.99. The company has a market cap of $123.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $335.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $332.20.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.01. Eaton had a return on equity of 22.62% and a net margin of 15.25%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.55 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Eaton will post 12.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on ETN. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Eaton from $350.00 to $335.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Melius lowered Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $369.20.

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.