Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. Grows Stock Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 38.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ETN. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Eaton by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,217,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,351,506,000 after purchasing an additional 99,291 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Eaton by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,069,341 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,665,342,000 after purchasing an additional 56,516 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Eaton in the fourth quarter valued at $1,495,582,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Eaton by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,421,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $836,938,000 after purchasing an additional 316,830 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,419,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $801,798,000 after buying an additional 597,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of Eaton stock opened at $274.05 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $107.37 billion, a PE ratio of 28.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Eaton Co. plc has a 52 week low of $255.65 and a 52 week high of $379.99. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $305.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $331.66.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.01. Eaton had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 22.62%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.55 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is 43.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on ETN shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays cut their price objective on Eaton from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.16.

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.