Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Position Trimmed by Homestead Advisers Corp

Homestead Advisers Corp lowered its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 292,504 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,600 shares during the period. Eaton makes up about 2.3% of Homestead Advisers Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Homestead Advisers Corp owned approximately 0.07% of Eaton worth $97,073,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Eaton by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,217,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,351,506,000 after purchasing an additional 99,291 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,069,341 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,665,342,000 after buying an additional 56,516 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Eaton by 15.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,421,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $836,938,000 after acquiring an additional 316,830 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Eaton by 32.8% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Eaton by 253.2% in the 3rd 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 worth $753,590,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629,856 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of Eaton stock opened at $285.60 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $308.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $331.57. Eaton Co. plc has a fifty-two week low of $255.65 and a fifty-two week high of $379.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $111.89 billion, a PE ratio of 30.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the business earned $2.55 EPS. Analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.04 dividend. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ETN. StockNews.com lowered Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Melius downgraded Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.16.

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.