Sandy Spring Bank Acquires 1,536 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Sandy Spring Bank increased its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,835 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,536 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Eaton were worth $12,556,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ETN. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Westmount Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $327,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 896 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 1,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $544,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ETN. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Eaton from $353.00 to $325.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Melius lowered shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $357.68.

Eaton Price Performance

ETN stock opened at $294.52 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $313.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $331.40. Eaton Co. plc has a 52-week low of $255.65 and a 52-week high of $379.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.00, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.50.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.01. Eaton had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 22.62%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.79%.

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.