Schroder Investment Management Group Acquires 32,969 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 269,203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,969 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Eaton were worth $89,478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Eaton by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,217,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,351,506,000 after buying an additional 99,291 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Eaton by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,069,341 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,665,342,000 after purchasing an additional 56,516 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Eaton in the 4th quarter worth about $1,495,582,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Eaton by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,421,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $836,938,000 after purchasing an additional 316,830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Eaton by 32.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 597,700 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eaton has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.16.

Eaton Stock Down 2.4 %

ETN opened at $274.05 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $107.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $305.90 and its 200 day moving average is $331.66. Eaton Co. plc has a fifty-two week low of $255.65 and a fifty-two week high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $2.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.79%.

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.