Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Has $881,000 Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 229 shares during the quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $881,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at about $211,000. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC now owns 16,744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,557,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in Eaton by 210.2% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 95,086 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,556,000 after purchasing an additional 64,434 shares during the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Eaton by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,027 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Eaton by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 500,934 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $166,245,000 after buying an additional 4,990 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Eaton stock opened at $250.67 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $292.71 and its 200 day moving average is $328.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.20 billion, a PE ratio of 26.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. Eaton Co. plc has a 1 year low of $231.85 and a 1 year high of $379.99. 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 (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. 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 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s payout ratio is 43.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ETN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Eaton from $350.00 to $289.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Eaton from $315.00 to $306.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $355.06.

Eaton 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.