Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Trading Down 0.1% – Here’s Why

Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)’s share price fell 0.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $334.33 and last traded at $334.74. 412,448 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 2,076,344 shares. The stock had previously closed at $335.12.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ETN. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Eaton in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $431.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America increased their target price on Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wolfe Research upgraded Eaton from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Evercore ISI downgraded Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $333.00 to $389.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Raymond James cut their target price on Eaton from $375.00 to $365.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $367.83.

Eaton Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $133.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.97, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $356.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $327.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.47 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. Eaton’s payout ratio is presently 40.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total value of $22,224,561.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 506,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,780,769.20. This represents a 10.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.30, for a total transaction of $1,341,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 51,422 shares in the company, valued at $17,241,796.60. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 76,981 shares of company stock worth $27,660,117. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eaton

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Breakwater Investment Management boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 1,560.0% during the 2nd quarter. Breakwater Investment Management now owns 83 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 83.2% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 4,298 shares in the last quarter. LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eaton during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Eaton in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Eaton during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

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.