ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 28.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,734 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 692 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its position in Eaton by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 5,724 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 34,071 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,205,000 after acquiring an additional 7,964 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,958,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in Eaton during the third quarter worth approximately $479,000. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC raised its stake in Eaton by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 1,458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $5,395,107.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,116,427.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Eaton news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total value of $3,796,067.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 69,472 shares in the company, valued at $20,244,140.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $5,395,107.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,116,427.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 38,969 shares of company stock worth $10,904,774. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ETN. Barclays upgraded Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Eaton from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $286.00 to $371.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Mizuho raised their target price on Eaton from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $295.60.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of Eaton stock traded down $5.92 on Friday, reaching $303.02. 3,084,670 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,164,310. Eaton Co. plc has a 1-year low of $161.12 and a 1-year high of $331.47. The firm has a market cap of $121.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.51. The company’s 50-day moving average is $300.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $254.56.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 13.88% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.06 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were given a $0.94 dividend. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.88%.

Eaton 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.