Wellington Shields & Co. LLC Grows Stock Position in Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN)

Wellington Shields & Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN) by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $1,125,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Eaton during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its position in Eaton by 102.0% during the first quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management boosted its position in Eaton by 73.8% during the first quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eaton news, insider Craig Arnold sold 103,486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.75, for a total transaction of $33,400,106.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 490,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $158,214,632. The trade was a 17.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael Yelton sold 2,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.87, for a total value of $629,364.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,382 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,014.34. This trade represents a 38.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 156,660 shares of company stock worth $49,622,894 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ETN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Eaton from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Barclays raised their price target on Eaton from $323.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Eaton from $385.00 to $375.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Eaton in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price for the company. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Eaton from $355.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.89.

Eaton Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of ETN opened at $390.13 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.31. Eaton Corporation, PLC has a one year low of $231.85 and a one year high of $399.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.37, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $347.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $316.69.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The industrial products company reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.70 by $0.02. Eaton had a return on equity of 23.41% and a net margin of 15.55%. The firm had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Eaton Corporation, PLC will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.98%.

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.