Advisors Capital Management LLC Sells 15,631 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Advisors Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 14.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,533 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 15,631 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $30,377,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eaton during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN grew its position in shares of Eaton by 321.7% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 97 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Eaton during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Eaton during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on Eaton from $340.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Eaton presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $355.06.

Eaton Trading Up 2.4 %

NYSE ETN opened at $277.13 on Friday. Eaton Co. plc has a twelve month low of $231.85 and a twelve month high of $379.99. The business’s fifty day moving average is $289.36 and its 200 day moving average is $327.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $108.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $2.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.79%.

About Eaton

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.