Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Position Reduced by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Great Lakes Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,747 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 45 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $1,243,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,055 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $682,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 49,693 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,491,000 after purchasing an additional 1,930 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 45,291 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,031,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ETN shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on Eaton from $353.00 to $325.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. KeyCorp upgraded Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Melius downgraded Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.68.

Eaton Stock Up 3.8 %

ETN opened at $294.53 on Friday. Eaton Co. plc has a 1-year low of $255.65 and a 1-year high of $379.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $316.31 and a 200-day moving average of $331.54.

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 return on equity of 22.62% and a net margin of 15.25%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.04 dividend. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.