Patten & Patten Inc. TN Cuts Stock Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Patten & Patten Inc. TN trimmed its stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,948 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 115 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s holdings in Eaton were worth $2,638,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. United Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Eaton during the 3rd quarter worth about $258,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Eaton during the third quarter worth approximately $295,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Eaton by 89.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 57,044 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,906,000 after buying an additional 26,995 shares during the last quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 36.7% in the 3rd quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 4,380 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,452,000 after buying an additional 1,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Eaton by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,422,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on ETN. Evercore ISI decreased 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 note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Eaton from $353.00 to $325.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $357.68.

Eaton Stock Up 3.8 %

ETN opened at $294.53 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $316.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $331.54. Eaton Co. plc has a 12 month low of $255.65 and a 12 month high of $379.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company posted $2.55 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.