Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Makes New Investment in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 8,760 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,739,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ETN. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter worth about $1,087,983,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Eaton by 2,006.8% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 964,728 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $232,326,000 after purchasing an additional 918,936 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in Eaton during the fourth quarter worth about $181,411,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Eaton by 207.5% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 970,426 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $233,698,000 after purchasing an additional 654,855 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,029,795 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $488,815,000 after purchasing an additional 337,351 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Peter Denk sold 2,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.84, for a total transaction of $801,725.44. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,086 shares in the company, valued at $1,687,738.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Eaton Price Performance

Eaton stock opened at $313.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Eaton Co. plc has a 12-month low of $191.82 and a 12-month high of $345.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.51 billion, a PE ratio of 37.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $325.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $291.63.

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

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Eaton’s payout ratio is 44.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $355.00 target price (up from $340.00) on shares of Eaton in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Eaton in a research report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $375.00 price target for the company. Barclays upgraded Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Eaton from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $318.06.

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.