Haverford Trust Co Lowers Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Haverford Trust Co lessened its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 381,816 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,052 shares during the quarter. Eaton makes up about 1.3% of Haverford Trust Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Haverford Trust Co owned about 0.10% of Eaton worth $126,713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ETN. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Eaton in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Eaton in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in shares of Eaton by 83.2% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 4,298 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 321.7% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 97 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Eaton during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ETN shares. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Eaton from $353.00 to $325.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.68.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETN opened at $295.88 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Eaton Co. plc has a twelve month low of $255.65 and a twelve month high of $379.99. The company’s 50 day moving average is $311.30 and its 200 day moving average is $331.67. The company has a market cap of $115.92 billion, a PE ratio of 31.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.01. Eaton had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 22.62%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.55 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.04 dividend. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s payout ratio is currently 43.79%.

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.