Capital Square LLC Acquires New Shares in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Capital Square LLC acquired a new position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,686 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,555,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eaton by 48.9% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 41,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,533,000 after purchasing an additional 13,497 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Eaton in the fourth quarter worth about $297,000. Webster Bank N. A. lifted 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 valued at $5,949,000 after buying an additional 6,166 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Eaton by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 9,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,072,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 13.2% during 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 in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ETN shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Eaton from $396.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Melius lowered Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $289.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $350.22.

Eaton Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of ETN stock opened at $269.42 on Thursday. Eaton Co. plc has a twelve month low of $231.85 and a twelve month high of $379.99. The stock has a market cap of $105.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $286.96 and a 200 day moving average of $326.08. 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 (NYSE:ETN) last posted 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 quarter last year, the business posted $2.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.79%.

Eaton 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.