Baxter Bros Inc. Reduces Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Baxter Bros Inc. trimmed its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 11.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,509 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 699 shares during the period. Baxter Bros Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $1,828,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Eaton by 48.9% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 41,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,533,000 after purchasing an additional 13,497 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Eaton in the 4th quarter worth approximately $297,000. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its position in shares of Eaton by 52.4% during the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 17,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,949,000 after acquiring an additional 6,166 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 9,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,072,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Eaton by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 14,494 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,804,000 after acquiring an additional 1,694 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $357.68.

Eaton Stock Performance

ETN opened at $303.41 on Tuesday. Eaton Co. plc has a 1-year low of $255.65 and a 1-year high of $379.99. The stock has a market cap of $118.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $310.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $331.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $2.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is 43.79%.

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.