Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN – Get Rating) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $178.77.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ETN. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Eaton from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 13th. 92 Resources reaffirmed a “maintains” rating on shares of Eaton in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Eaton from $180.00 to $200.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Eaton from $188.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Eaton from $145.00 to $159.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eaton news, insider Joao V. Faria sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.71, for a total value of $441,775.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 71,314 shares in the company, valued at $12,601,896.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Eaton news, insider Joao V. Faria sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.71, for a total value of $441,775.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 71,314 shares in the company, valued at $12,601,896.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian S. Brickhouse sold 21,347 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.97, for a total value of $3,777,778.59. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,814,707.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,051 shares of company stock worth $5,127,912 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eaton

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Eaton by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,545,867 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,740,397,000 after purchasing an additional 398,146 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Eaton by 8.9% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,538,340 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,833,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358,584 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Eaton by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,542,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,968,521,000 after purchasing an additional 2,602,246 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Eaton by 208.8% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,075,604 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,726,354,000 after purchasing an additional 6,812,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Eaton by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,806,502 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,225,230,000 after purchasing an additional 890,150 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.19% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Trading Down 1.6 %

ETN stock opened at $171.36 on Wednesday. Eaton has a 1-year low of $122.50 and a 1-year high of $178.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $68.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.73, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $165.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $164.59.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The industrial products company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.10. Eaton had a return on equity of 18.70% and a net margin of 12.00%. The business had revenue of $5.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Eaton will post 8.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 8th will be paid a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 5th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. Eaton’s payout ratio is 53.67%.

Eaton Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Eaton Corp. Plc is a power management company, which provides energy-efficient solutions for electrical, hydraulic, and mechanical power. It operates through the following segments: Electrical Americas and Electrical Global, Aerospace, Vehicle, and eMobility. The Electrical Americas and Electrical Global segments engage in sales contracts for electrical components, industrial components, power distribution and assemblies, residential products, single and three phase power quality, wiring devices, circuit protection, utility power distribution, power reliability equipment, and service.