Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Trading 0.4% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)’s share price traded up 0.4% on Friday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $400.00 to $440.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Eaton traded as high as $373.28 and last traded at $372.54. 222,197 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 2,082,614 shares. The stock had previously closed at $371.05.

ETN has been the subject of several other reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $374.00 price objective on shares of Eaton in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Eaton from $315.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Eaton in a research note on Monday, September 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $348.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eaton has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $362.72.

Insider Activity

In other Eaton news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.58, for a total value of $534,554.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 31,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,811,696. This trade represents a 4.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total transaction of $22,224,561.93. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 506,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,780,769.20. This trade represents a 10.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,981 shares of company stock worth $24,100,317. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eaton

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,069,341 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,665,342,000 after purchasing an additional 56,516 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,206,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,005,317,000 after purchasing an additional 18,077 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,421,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $836,938,000 after purchasing an additional 316,830 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,419,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $801,798,000 after purchasing an additional 597,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Eaton by 253.2% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,273,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $753,590,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629,856 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $351.88 and its 200 day moving average is $325.70. The firm has a market cap of $146.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.03.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.04. Eaton had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 21.97%. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.47 earnings per share. Eaton’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. Eaton’s payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

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.