Calton & Associates Inc. Reduces Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Calton & Associates Inc. decreased its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 17.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 769 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 163 shares during the period. Calton & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $240,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 5,724 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Pinnbrook Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,109,000. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 76,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,479,000 after purchasing an additional 5,725 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 34,071 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,205,000 after purchasing an additional 7,964 shares during the period. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Eaton during the fourth quarter worth $1,001,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ETN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Barclays upgraded Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Eaton from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $286.00 to $371.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. HSBC upped their target price on Eaton from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $312.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $318.06.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of ETN opened at $313.55 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $325.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $292.34. The company has a market capitalization of $125.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.56. Eaton Co. plc has a fifty-two week low of $191.82 and a fifty-two week high of $345.19.

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

Eaton Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. Eaton’s payout ratio is currently 44.39%.

Insider Transactions at Eaton

In related news, insider Peter Denk sold 2,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 5,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,687,738.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.