Wedmont Private Capital Acquires 244 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,484 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Eaton were worth $1,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Eaton during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Eaton during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Eaton in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Eaton during the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Eaton during the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE ETN opened at $340.60 on Tuesday. Eaton Co. plc has a 1 year low of $236.04 and a 1 year high of $379.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $355.33 and a 200 day moving average of $329.15. The stock has a market cap of $134.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Eaton Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Eaton’s payout ratio is presently 40.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.58, for a total value of $534,554.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,200 shares in the company, valued at $11,811,696. The trade was a 4.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.30, for a total value of $1,341,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 51,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,241,796.60. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 76,981 shares of company stock worth $27,660,117 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI cut Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and increased their target price for the company from $333.00 to $389.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Eaton from $320.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $367.61.

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.