Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Position Lessened by Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lowered its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 99.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,269 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 249,845 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Eaton were worth $753,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Eaton by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Westmount Partners LLC grew its position in Eaton by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 896 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eaton by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH lifted its stake in shares of Eaton by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 1,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on ETN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Eaton from $350.00 to $289.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI reduced 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $355.06.

Eaton Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of ETN opened at $277.13 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $289.36 and its 200 day moving average price 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. Eaton Co. plc has a 12-month low of $231.85 and a 12-month high of $379.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.17, a P/E/G 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 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. 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.