Montag A & Associates Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Montag A & Associates Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 6.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,046 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Eaton during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its position in Eaton by 142.9% during the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 85 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC acquired a new position in Eaton during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Eaton during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ETN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 target price (up from $340.00) on shares of Eaton in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on Eaton from $316.00 to $318.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Eaton from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $286.00 to $371.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Raymond James began coverage on Eaton in a report on Friday, June 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $375.00 price objective on the stock. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Peter Denk sold 2,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.84, for a total value of $801,725.44. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,086 shares in the company, valued at $1,687,738.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Price Performance

ETN stock traded down $2.79 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $327.69. 518,629 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,989,745. The company has a market cap of $131.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $325.94 and its 200 day moving average is $298.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Eaton Co. plc has a 12-month low of $191.82 and a 12-month high of $345.19.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion for 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%. Eaton’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.56 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.39%.

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.