3,188 Shares in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Acquired by Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc.

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 3,188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ETN. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Eaton in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Eaton in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new stake in Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of ETN stock traded down $5.72 on Friday, reaching $303.22. 3,084,235 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,908,520. The stock has a market cap of $121.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $300.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $254.56. Eaton Co. plc has a 1-year low of $161.12 and a 1-year high of $331.47.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.08. Eaton had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 13.88%. The business had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.06 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.28 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ETN shares. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $312.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group increased their price target on Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Berenberg Bank increased their price target on Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Eaton from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $295.60.

Insider Activity at Eaton

In related news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $5,395,107.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,116,427.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $5,395,107.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,712 shares in the company, valued at $8,116,427.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total value of $1,213,392.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $171,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 38,969 shares of company stock worth $10,904,774. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.