Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Position Raised by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 49,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 579 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Eaton were worth $12,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in Eaton by 9.5% during the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 2,116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. Naples Global Advisors LLC grew its stake in Eaton by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 2,551 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $544,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC purchased a new position in Eaton during the 3rd quarter valued at about $276,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 23,890 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,096,000 after buying an additional 1,480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 69.5% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 222 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on ETN. Barclays upgraded Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $312.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Eaton from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Eaton currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.60.

Eaton Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Eaton stock traded up $4.61 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $312.70. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,233,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,904,975. Eaton Co. plc has a 12 month low of $161.12 and a 12 month high of $331.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $301.39 and a 200 day moving average of $255.94. The company has a market capitalization of $124.92 billion, a PE ratio of 38.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eaton news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total value of $1,213,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630 shares in the company, valued at $171,360. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total value of $500,207.07. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,593,380.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total value of $1,213,392.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $171,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 38,969 shares of company stock worth $10,904,774. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.