SFE Investment Counsel Has $2.48 Million Stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

SFE Investment Counsel reduced its holdings in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,307 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 739 shares during the period. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Eaton were worth $2,482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted 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 valued at $1,379,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. BCS Wealth Management bought a new position in Eaton in the 3rd quarter valued at about $216,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Eaton by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 34,071 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,205,000 after acquiring an additional 7,964 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC bought a new position in Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,958,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Eaton in the 3rd quarter valued at about $479,000. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays upgraded shares of Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Eaton from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $286.00 to $371.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Bank of America lifted 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. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $295.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eaton news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total value of $3,796,067.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 69,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,244,140.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Eaton news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total value of $3,796,067.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 69,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,244,140.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of Eaton 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 38,969 shares of company stock valued at $10,904,774. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Trading Down 0.3 %

Eaton stock traded down $0.79 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $309.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,109,522 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,880,723. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $299.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $253.53. Eaton Co. plc has a 12 month low of $161.12 and a 12 month high of $331.47. The stock has a market cap of $123.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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. Eaton had a net margin of 13.88% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $5.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.06 earnings per share. Eaton’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.28 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Eaton’s payout ratio is currently 46.88%.

Eaton Company 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.