Empire Financial Management Company LLC Reduces Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Empire Financial Management Company LLC reduced its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 172 shares during the period. Empire Financial Management Company LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $2,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Eaton by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 1,027 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD lifted its stake in Eaton by 16.2% in the third quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 215 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 1.2% in the second quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 2,776 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $870,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,549 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $513,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Well Done LLC raised its position in Eaton by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 2,551 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $800,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETN opened at $358.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $353.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $325.99. Eaton Co. plc has a 12 month low of $231.84 and a 12 month high of $379.99.

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

Eaton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Eaton’s payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ETN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Eaton from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. 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. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Eaton in a report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $370.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Eaton from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $367.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In related news, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total transaction of $22,224,561.93. Following the sale, the insider now owns 506,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,780,769.20. This trade represents a 10.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $11,811,696. This trade represents a 4.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,981 shares of company stock valued at $24,100,317 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.53% 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.