Melius Research Reiterates “Hold” Rating for Eaton (NYSE:ETN)

Eaton (NYSE:ETN)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Melius Research in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $373.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock. Melius Research’s target price indicates a potential upside of 22.62% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Evercore ISI cut shares of Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $333.00 to $389.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Eaton in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Eaton in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $431.00 target price for the company. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $369.30.

Eaton Stock Performance

NYSE ETN traded down $7.35 on Tuesday, reaching $304.20. 5,408,296 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,163,719. Eaton has a one year low of $244.35 and a one year high of $379.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.22 billion, a PE ratio of 32.36, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $353.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $331.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.37 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 21.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.47 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Eaton will post 10.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.58, for a total value of $534,554.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,200 shares in the company, valued at $11,811,696. The trade was a 4.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.30, for a total transaction of $1,341,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 51,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,241,796.60. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 76,981 shares of company stock valued at $27,660,117. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eaton

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETN. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 253.2% in 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 valued at $753,590,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629,856 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Eaton by 27,075.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,073,976 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $355,959,000 after buying an additional 1,070,024 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in 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 worth $801,798,000 after buying an additional 597,700 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton in the 3rd quarter valued at $137,794,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Eaton by 3,508.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 401,728 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $133,321,000 after purchasing an additional 390,595 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.