Oakworth Capital Inc. Boosts Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Oakworth Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 82.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,190 shares during the quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $636,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ETN. KLCM Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Eaton by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 3,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $847,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Scissortail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Eaton during the 4th quarter valued at about $7,755,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Eaton by 323.0% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 631,069 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $151,974,000 after purchasing an additional 8,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Paces Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Eaton by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 4,262 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,026,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Eaton from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $286.00 to $371.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $312.00 price objective on shares of Eaton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $295.60.

Eaton Trading Down 1.7 %

ETN traded down $5.48 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $309.87. 1,665,328 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,884,804. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $298.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $253.13. Eaton Co. plc has a 1 year low of $161.12 and a 1 year high of $331.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $123.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.07.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 13.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.06 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total value of $500,207.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,593,380.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Eaton news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $5,395,107.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,116,427.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total value of $500,207.07. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,593,380.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,969 shares of company stock valued at $10,904,774 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.