Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Acquires New Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC bought a new position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 8,760 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,739,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Scharf Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eaton during the first quarter worth approximately $890,000. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC acquired a new position in Eaton during the 1st quarter worth $340,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 19.3% in the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 3,803 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eaton during the first quarter valued at about $203,000. Finally, Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Eaton in the 1st quarter valued at about $255,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ETN. Argus increased their price target on Eaton from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Eaton in a research note on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $375.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Eaton from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Eaton from $279.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $312.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a report on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Eaton has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $318.06.

Eaton Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE ETN opened at $313.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.56. The stock has a market cap of $125.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.06, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.04. Eaton Co. plc has a 52 week low of $191.82 and a 52 week high of $345.19. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $325.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $291.63.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.12. Eaton had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 20.69%. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. Eaton’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Eaton

In other news, insider Peter Denk sold 2,416 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.84, for a total transaction of $801,725.44. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,687,738.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.53% 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.