Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Grows Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 69.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,848 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,804 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $2,270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. grew its holdings in Eaton by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 1,027 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD grew its holdings in Eaton by 16.2% in the third quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 215 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. increased its position in Eaton by 1.2% during the second quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 2,776 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $870,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,549 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Well Done LLC grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 2,551 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $800,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Eaton from $315.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $333.00 to $389.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $375.00 to $365.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Eaton in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $370.00 price objective on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Eaton presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.83.

Eaton Price Performance

ETN opened at $376.56 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.53. Eaton Co. plc has a 1-year low of $224.52 and a 1-year high of $379.12. The company has a 50-day moving average of $344.15 and a 200-day moving average of $323.22. The company has a market capitalization of $148.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.06, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Eaton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.00%.

Insider Transactions at Eaton

In other news, insider Michael Yelton sold 3,136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.12, for a total value of $950,584.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,186,411.68. This represents a 44.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 506,360 shares in the company, valued at $182,780,769.20. This trade represents a 10.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 68,705 shares of company stock worth $24,516,346. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.