Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Trading Up 3.1% – Still a Buy?

Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN)’s stock price shot up 3.1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $425.92 and last traded at $422.4960. 3,696,055 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 34% from the average session volume of 2,760,864 shares. The stock had previously closed at $409.64.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Eaton from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Eaton from $464.00 to $471.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Eaton in a report on Monday, March 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $430.00 target price on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on Eaton from $420.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $420.95.

Eaton Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $164.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.30, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $402.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $368.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.73 by $0.08. Eaton had a return on equity of 24.72% and a net margin of 13.99%.The company had revenue of $7.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Eaton has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.000-3.100 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 13.050-13.500 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Eaton Corporation, PLC will post 13.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. Eaton’s payout ratio is currently 43.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other news, Director Gerald Johnson purchased 746 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $402.29 per share, with a total value of $300,108.34. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 1,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $568,838.06. The trade was a 111.68% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 18,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.11, for a total value of $7,514,123.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 49,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,382,678.42. The trade was a 26.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 21,028 shares of company stock valued at $8,614,793 in the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eaton

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETN. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sfam LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management bought a new stake in Eaton in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Eaton in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Boreal Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Eaton in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Eaton

Eaton (NYSE: ETN) is a diversified power management company that designs, manufactures and distributes products and systems to manage electrical, hydraulic and mechanical power. The company’s offerings are used to improve energy efficiency, reliability and safety across a wide range of applications, with core capabilities in electrical distribution and control, industrial hydraulics and aerospace systems.

Its product portfolio includes switchgear, circuit breakers, transformers, power distribution units, uninterruptible power supplies and surge protection devices for electrical infrastructure, along with hydraulic pumps, valves and filtration systems for industrial and mobile equipment.