Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $395.05.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ETN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $360.00 price objective (down from $440.00) on shares of Eaton in a research report on Sunday, January 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Eaton from $440.00 to $406.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 16th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Eaton in a research report on Friday, March 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $428.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Eaton from $370.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETN opened at $368.59 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $365.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $355.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Eaton has a 12 month low of $245.30 and a 12 month high of $408.45.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $7.06 billion for the quarter. Eaton had a return on equity of 25.00% and a net margin of 14.89%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Eaton will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.04. Eaton’s payout ratio is presently 42.07%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Sternadt Paulo Ruiz sold 10,707 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.26, for a total transaction of $4,178,513.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,729 shares in the company, valued at $10,821,519.54. The trade was a 27.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eaton during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sfam LLC acquired a new position in Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management acquired a new position in Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in Eaton in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eaton Company Profile

Eaton (NYSE: ETN) is a diversified power management company that designs, manufactures and distributes products and systems to manage electrical, hydraulic and mechanical power. The company’s offerings are used to improve energy efficiency, reliability and safety across a wide range of applications, with core capabilities in electrical distribution and control, industrial hydraulics and aerospace systems.

Its product portfolio includes switchgear, circuit breakers, transformers, power distribution units, uninterruptible power supplies and surge protection devices for electrical infrastructure, along with hydraulic pumps, valves and filtration systems for industrial and mobile equipment.