Ascent Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 7.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $248,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ETN. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Eaton by 323.8% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,192,576 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $998,255,000 after acquiring an additional 2,439,270 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Eaton by 2,857.4% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,262,479 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $394,752,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,790 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted 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 valued at $232,326,000 after acquiring an additional 918,936 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Eaton in the second quarter valued at $225,974,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Eaton by 1,604.4% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 673,579 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $211,201,000 after acquiring an additional 634,059 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research raised Eaton from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Eaton in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $370.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Eaton from $370.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Raymond James cut their price target on Eaton from $375.00 to $365.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Eaton from $320.00 to $315.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $337.41.

Eaton Stock Down 1.2 %

ETN opened at $327.52 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $130.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50-day moving average of $301.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $314.25. Eaton Co. plc has a 12 month low of $191.82 and a 12 month high of $345.19.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.12. Eaton had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 15.12%. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.35 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. Eaton’s payout ratio is currently 44.39%.

Insider Transactions at Eaton

In other news, insider Taras G. Jr. Szmagala sold 335 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.72, for a total transaction of $96,721.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,858,328. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Taras G. Jr. Szmagala sold 335 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.72, for a total transaction of $96,721.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,858,328. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael Yelton sold 3,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.12, for a total value of $950,584.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,914 shares in the company, valued at $1,186,411.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 52,511 shares of company stock worth $15,809,326. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.