Garner Asset Management Corp Trims Stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Garner Asset Management Corp decreased its stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,139 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 150 shares during the period. Garner Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Eaton were worth $1,042,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ETN. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Eaton in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Eaton by 74.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,057 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,299,000 after buying an additional 11,992 shares during the period. Bard Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Eaton in the third quarter valued at $255,000. Advisory Resource Group grew its position in Eaton by 10.9% during the third quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 4,358 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the period. Finally, Chelsea Counsel Co. increased its stake in Eaton by 29.4% during the third quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 220 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Eaton from $350.00 to $289.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Melius Research reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price objective on shares of Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $355.06.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of Eaton stock opened at $277.13 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $108.57 billion, a PE ratio of 29.17, 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $289.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $327.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.50.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 earned $2.55 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Eaton’s payout ratio is 43.79%.

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.