Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 13.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,744,691 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 323,065 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $910,881,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 83.2% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 4,298 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN raised its holdings in shares of Eaton by 321.7% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 97 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Eaton in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on ETN. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. KeyCorp raised shares of Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Melius cut shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays cut their price objective on Eaton from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.16.

Eaton Stock Performance

ETN stock opened at $274.05 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $107.37 billion, a PE ratio of 28.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $305.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $331.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Eaton Co. plc has a 1-year low of $255.65 and a 1-year high of $379.99.

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

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Eaton’s 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.