Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $374.00 and last traded at $372.17, with a volume of 86352 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $370.95.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Eaton in a research note on Monday, September 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $348.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Eaton in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI cut Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $333.00 to $389.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Eaton in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $431.00 price target for the company. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $375.00 to $365.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.83.

Eaton Trading Up 1.3 %

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $341.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $322.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.75, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

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

Eaton Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In related news, Director Dorothy C. Thompson bought 2,205 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $300.30 per share, with a total value of $662,161.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,205 shares in the company, valued at $662,161.50. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Michael Yelton sold 3,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was 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 represents a 44.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 68,705 shares of company stock valued at $24,516,346 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eaton

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ETN. IAM Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eaton during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $599,000. Interval Partners LP increased its stake in Eaton by 82.7% in the second quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 151,716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,571,000 after purchasing an additional 68,693 shares during the period. Scientech Research LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 285.5% during the second quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 5,744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 4,254 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 25.9% in the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 27,609 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,657,000 after purchasing an additional 5,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Eaton by 67.6% in the 2nd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,683,000 after buying an additional 3,452 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

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.