Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $295.60.

Several research analysts have commented on ETN shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Eaton from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd.

Eaton Price Performance

Eaton stock opened at $318.50 on Friday. Eaton has a 1 year low of $156.80 and a 1 year high of $331.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $296.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $251.17. The company has a market cap of $127.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.71, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.07.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.08. Eaton had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 13.88%. The business had revenue of $5.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.06 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Eaton will post 10.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. Eaton’s payout ratio is presently 46.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other Eaton news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $5,395,107.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,712 shares in the company, valued at $8,116,427.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Eaton news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $5,395,107.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,116,427.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total value of $3,796,067.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 69,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,244,140.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,969 shares of company stock valued at $10,904,774. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eaton

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ETN. Fragasso Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. now owns 1,032 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Eaton by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,481 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Eaton by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Telemus Capital LLC increased its position in Eaton by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Telemus Capital LLC now owns 4,111 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $990,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amarillo National Bank raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Amarillo National Bank now owns 1,270 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

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.