&Partners Buys 1,229 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

&Partners lifted its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 108.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares during the period. &Partners’ holdings in Eaton were worth $738,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its stake in Eaton by 142.9% in the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 85 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in Eaton in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Clear Investment Research LLC purchased a new stake in Eaton in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Eaton in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Eaton in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of Eaton stock opened at $320.06 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.79, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $324.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $290.17. Eaton Co. plc has a 52 week low of $191.82 and a 52 week high of $345.19.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 20.69%. Eaton’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.56 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ETN shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $279.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. HSBC increased their price target on shares of Eaton from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Berenberg Bank increased their price target on shares of Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $312.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.27.

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.