Columbia Trust Co 01012016 Raises Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Columbia Trust Co 01012016 lifted its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,269 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Columbia Trust Co 01012016’s holdings in Eaton were worth $546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new position in Eaton in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ETN. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Eaton from $246.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Eaton from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Eaton from $220.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Eaton from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $274.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total value of $1,213,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $171,360. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Eaton news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total transaction of $3,796,067.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 69,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,244,140.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of Eaton 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 transaction, the insider now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $171,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,969 shares of company stock worth $10,904,774 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of ETN stock opened at $314.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average of $278.80 and a 200 day moving average of $242.64. Eaton Co. plc has a 1 year low of $155.38 and a 1 year high of $317.02.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 13.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.06 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 8th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.88%.

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.