Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Stock Price Up 0.4% Following Analyst Upgrade

Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) rose 0.4% during mid-day trading on Friday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $400.00 to $440.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Eaton traded as high as $373.28 and last traded at $372.54. Approximately 222,197 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 2,082,614 shares. The stock had previously closed at $371.05.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on ETN. Mizuho increased their price target on Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $374.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America upped 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Eaton in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $362.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eaton news, 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 51,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,241,796.60. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.58, for a total transaction of $534,554.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 31,200 shares in the company, valued at $11,811,696. The trade was a 4.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 66,981 shares of company stock valued at $24,100,317. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Eaton by 253.2% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,273,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $753,590,000 after buying an additional 1,629,856 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Eaton by 27,075.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,073,976 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $355,959,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070,024 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Eaton in the 2nd quarter valued at about $225,974,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Eaton by 1,604.4% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 673,579 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $211,201,000 after purchasing an additional 634,059 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Eaton by 32.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,419,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $801,798,000 after purchasing an additional 597,700 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eaton Stock Performance

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 company has a market capitalization of $147.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $351.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $325.70.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Eaton’s payout ratio is 40.00%.

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.