Howland Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Howland Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,945 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 254 shares during the period. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $5,612,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Eaton by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,595,656 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,812,966,000 after buying an additional 259,615 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter valued at $1,087,983,000. Coatue Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 3,986,445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $960,016,000 after acquiring an additional 195,809 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 1.7% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,804,171 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,189,488,000 after acquiring an additional 64,446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,163,432 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $520,998,000 after acquiring an additional 27,386 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ETN. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $312.00 price objective on shares of Eaton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. HSBC increased their price objective on Eaton from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Eaton from $370.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Eaton from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Eaton from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $286.00 to $371.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.06.

Eaton Stock Performance

ETN traded up $1.71 on Thursday, hitting $328.78. 2,060,970 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,003,500. The company has a 50 day moving average of $325.47 and a 200-day moving average of $297.25. Eaton Co. plc has a 12-month low of $191.82 and a 12-month high of $345.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.45 billion, a PE ratio of 38.62, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 20.69% and a net margin of 14.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.39%.

Insider Transactions at Eaton

In other news, insider Peter Denk sold 2,416 shares of the 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 completion of 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.33% 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.