Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Grows Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 145,320 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,038 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $48,227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Eaton by 48.9% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 41,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,533,000 after purchasing an additional 13,497 shares in the last quarter. Lighthouse Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $297,000. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 17,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,949,000 after acquiring an additional 6,166 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 9,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,072,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 14,494 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,804,000 after acquiring an additional 1,694 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.98, for a total value of $3,559,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 43,203 shares in the company, valued at $15,379,403.94. This trade represents a 18.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ETN. Melius downgraded Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays cut their price target on Eaton from $353.00 to $325.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Seven 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.15.

Eaton Trading Up 3.1 %

NYSE:ETN opened at $287.85 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $323.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $332.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.30, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.50. Eaton Co. plc has a 1 year low of $255.65 and a 1 year high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.01. Eaton had a return on equity of 22.62% and a net margin of 15.25%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.79%.

Eaton 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.