Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $357.16.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Melius Research restated a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of ETN stock opened at $274.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $107.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $305.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $331.12. Eaton has a one year low of $255.65 and a one year high of $379.99. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (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 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Eaton will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Eaton’s payout ratio is presently 43.79%.

Institutional Trading of Eaton

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,495,582,000. Capital International Investors purchased a new stake in Eaton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $523,541,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Eaton by 42,255.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 732,323 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $243,036,000 after buying an additional 730,594 shares during the period. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new position in Eaton during the 4th quarter worth approximately $231,552,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 597,700 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.