Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Price Target Cut to $410.00 by Analysts at Citigroup

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) had its price target trimmed by Citigroup from $440.00 to $410.00 in a report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America raised their price target on Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Eaton in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Eaton from $365.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Eaton has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.89.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of Eaton stock opened at $342.35 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $355.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $329.33. Eaton has a 12 month low of $236.04 and a 12 month high of $379.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $135.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.42, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.06. 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 earnings per share 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 for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.47 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Eaton will post 10.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Eaton’s payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other Eaton news, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total value of $22,224,561.93. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 51,422 shares in the company, valued at $17,241,796.60. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 76,981 shares of company stock worth $27,660,117. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ETN. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 83.2% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 4,298 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 321.7% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 97 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Eaton during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eaton during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eaton during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.