Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Stock Price Down 2.2% – What’s Next?

Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) shares were down 2.2% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $344.67 and last traded at $347.31. Approximately 764,663 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 2,074,190 shares. The stock had previously closed at $355.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ETN shares. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Eaton from $394.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $333.00 to $389.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Eaton in a report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $370.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Eaton from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $374.00 price objective on shares of Eaton in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $367.83.

Eaton Trading Down 2.6 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $356.20 and its 200 day moving average is $326.73. The company has a market cap of $136.66 billion, a PE ratio of 36.95, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.37 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 21.97%. Eaton’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.47 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. Eaton’s payout ratio is presently 40.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other Eaton news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.30, for a total transaction of $1,341,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 51,422 shares in the company, valued at $17,241,796.60. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total transaction of $22,224,561.93. Following the sale, the insider now owns 506,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,780,769.20. The trade was a 10.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,981 shares of company stock worth $24,100,317 over the last three months. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eaton

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ETN. Breakwater Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 1,560.0% in the 2nd quarter. Breakwater Investment Management now owns 83 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eaton in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 83.2% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 4,298 shares during the last quarter. LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eaton in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Eaton during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.