Wellington Shields & Co. LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Wellington Shields & Co. LLC raised its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 17.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,997 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $1,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Eaton by 253.2% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,273,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $753,590,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629,856 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Eaton by 42,255.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 732,323 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $243,036,000 after acquiring an additional 730,594 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Eaton by 32.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,419,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $801,798,000 after acquiring an additional 597,700 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its position in shares of Eaton by 390.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 539,673 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $193,421,000 after acquiring an additional 429,701 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Eaton in the third quarter valued at approximately $137,794,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on ETN. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Melius Research reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $356.20.

Eaton Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of NYSE ETN opened at $294.53 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Eaton Co. plc has a 52 week low of $255.65 and a 52 week high of $379.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $316.31 and its 200 day moving average is $331.29. The company has a market cap of $115.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.00, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.01. Eaton had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 22.62%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Eaton’s payout ratio is 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.