Capital International Sarl Increases Stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Capital International Sarl lifted its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,861 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,663 shares during the period. Capital International Sarl’s holdings in Eaton were worth $6,923,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Eaton by 48.9% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 41,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,533,000 after buying an additional 13,497 shares in the last quarter. Lighthouse Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Eaton in the fourth quarter worth approximately $297,000. Webster Bank N. A. raised its stake in Eaton by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 17,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,949,000 after buying an additional 6,166 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in Eaton by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 9,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,072,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 14,494 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ETN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Eaton from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays dropped their price target on Eaton from $315.00 to $306.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. KeyCorp cut their target price on Eaton from $340.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Melius lowered shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eaton presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $350.22.

Eaton Price Performance

NYSE ETN opened at $268.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $105.05 billion, a PE ratio of 28.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. Eaton Co. plc has a 52-week low of $231.85 and a 52-week high of $379.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $284.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $325.24.

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, beating 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Eaton’s payout ratio is presently 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.