Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $1.04

Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 27th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of 1.04 per share by the industrial products company on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94.

Eaton has a dividend payout ratio of 31.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Eaton to earn $13.52 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.76 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.8%.

Eaton Trading Down 1.7 %

ETN stock traded down $5.14 during trading on Thursday, hitting $292.21. The company had a trading volume of 2,337,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,494,637. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.84, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $328.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $332.55. Eaton has a 52-week low of $255.65 and a 52-week high of $379.99. 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 (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the company posted $2.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Eaton will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Eaton

In other news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $15,379,403.94. This trade represents a 18.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ETN shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Eaton from $320.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Eaton in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Eaton in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Melius Research reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $366.05.

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.