Summit Financial LLC Acquires 3,543 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Summit Financial LLC increased its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 113.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,666 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,543 shares during the quarter. Summit Financial LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $2,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Eaton by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,217,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,351,506,000 after purchasing an additional 99,291 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Eaton by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,069,341 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,665,342,000 after buying an additional 56,516 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Eaton during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,495,582,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Eaton by 15.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,421,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $836,938,000 after acquiring an additional 316,830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Eaton by 32.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,419,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $801,798,000 after acquiring an additional 597,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETN opened at $271.98 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $106.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50-day moving average is $304.41 and its 200 day moving average is $331.44. 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 Co. plc has a fifty-two week low of $255.65 and a fifty-two week high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the business earned $2.55 EPS. On average, equities 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $1.04 dividend. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ETN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Melius downgraded Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $357.16.

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.