Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Makes New $47,000 Investment in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 150 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in Eaton during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 142.9% in the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 85 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Clear Investment Research LLC bought a new stake in Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Eaton during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETN traded up $2.80 on Monday, reaching $322.86. 484,593 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,015,918. Eaton Co. plc has a fifty-two week low of $191.82 and a fifty-two week high of $345.19. The company’s 50 day moving average is $324.66 and its 200-day moving average is $290.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.08 billion, a PE ratio of 37.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 20.69% and a net margin of 14.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Eaton’s payout ratio is currently 44.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ETN. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 price objective (up from $340.00) on shares of Eaton in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $312.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Barclays upgraded shares of Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Eaton from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $286.00 to $371.00 in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.27.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Peter Denk sold 2,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.84, for a total value of $801,725.44. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,687,738.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.