Lincoln National Corp Grows Stock Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Lincoln National Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 76,128 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,575 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Eaton were worth $18,333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 0.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,336,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,749,751,000 after purchasing an additional 176,900 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Eaton by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,921,979 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,248,960,000 after buying an additional 5,270,331 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Eaton by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,009,435 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,068,412,000 after acquiring an additional 109,775 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,739,725 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $900,600,000 after acquiring an additional 138,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 97.5% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,860,312 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $396,767,000 after acquiring an additional 918,422 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Price Performance

ETN stock traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $327.43. The stock had a trading volume of 1,680,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,024,172. Eaton Co. plc has a 52-week low of $165.24 and a 52-week high of $333.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $309.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $263.61. The company has a market cap of $130.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.06.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.12. Eaton had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 20.69%. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. Eaton’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. Eaton’s payout ratio is currently 44.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on ETN. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $312.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Argus upped their price objective on Eaton from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, HSBC increased their target price on shares of Eaton from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eaton news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $5,395,107.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,116,427.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,116,427.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total transaction of $500,207.07. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,514 shares in the company, valued at $1,593,380.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,969 shares of company stock valued at $10,904,774 in the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by 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.