NBC Securities Inc. Trims Stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

NBC Securities Inc. reduced its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 5.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 963 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 57 shares during the quarter. NBC Securities Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its position in Eaton by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 5,724 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Pinnbrook Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter worth approximately $15,109,000. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its position in shares of Eaton by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 76,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,479,000 after acquiring an additional 5,725 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Eaton by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 34,071 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,205,000 after acquiring an additional 7,964 shares during the period. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,001,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eaton Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:ETN opened at $319.90 on Friday. Eaton Co. plc has a 12 month low of $191.82 and a 12 month high of $345.19. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $324.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $289.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $127.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.77, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.04.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.12. Eaton had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 20.69%. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Peter Denk sold 2,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.84, for a total transaction of $801,725.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,687,738.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ETN. HSBC raised their target price on shares of Eaton from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on shares of Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $312.00 price objective on shares of Eaton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Barclays upgraded shares of Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on shares of Eaton from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.27.

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.