Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Shares Down 1.4% – Time to Sell?

Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) dropped 1.4% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $371.01 and last traded at $371.98. Approximately 1,117,291 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average daily volume of 2,107,785 shares. The stock had previously closed at $377.29.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ETN shares. Bank of America increased their target price on Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $374.00 price objective on shares of Eaton in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Eaton from $315.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Eaton in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $370.00 price target for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.83.

Eaton Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $148.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company’s 50 day moving average is $348.37 and its 200 day moving average is $324.54.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.47 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Eaton’s payout ratio is 40.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eaton news, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total transaction of $22,224,561.93. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 506,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,780,769.20. This represents a 10.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.58, for a total value of $534,554.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,811,696. The trade was a 4.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,981 shares of company stock worth $24,100,317 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eaton

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 15.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,421,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $836,938,000 after acquiring an additional 316,830 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its holdings in Eaton by 0.5% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 15,621 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,177,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in Eaton by 3.2% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 42,032 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,931,000 after acquiring an additional 1,309 shares in the last quarter. Castellan Group lifted its holdings in Eaton by 6.2% in the third quarter. Castellan Group now owns 8,898 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,949,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Eaton by 68.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 29,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,851,000 after purchasing an additional 12,069 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% 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.