Swiss National Bank Boosts Stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 0.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,186,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.30% of Eaton worth $393,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Breakwater Investment Management boosted its position in Eaton by 1,560.0% during the second quarter. Breakwater Investment Management now owns 83 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. purchased a new stake in Eaton during the second quarter worth $29,000. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Eaton during the second quarter worth $33,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Eaton during the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Eaton during the second quarter worth $37,000. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on ETN. Wolfe Research upgraded Eaton from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Evercore ISI downgraded Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $333.00 to $389.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America upped their price objective on Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their price objective on Eaton from $327.00 to $320.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Eaton in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $357.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total value of $22,224,561.93. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 506,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,780,769.20. This trade represents a 10.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Michael Yelton sold 3,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.12, for a total value of $950,584.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,186,411.68. This trade represents a 44.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 68,705 shares of company stock worth $24,516,346. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETN opened at $358.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.87 billion, a PE ratio of 38.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $335.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $321.37. Eaton Co. plc has a 12 month low of $224.52 and a 12 month high of $373.49.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.47 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.00%.

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.