Ascent Group LLC Makes New $231,000 Investment in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Ascent Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 739 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eaton in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 142.9% in the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 85 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Clear Investment Research LLC bought a new stake in Eaton in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eaton in the first quarter valued at $33,000. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ETN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Eaton from $316.00 to $318.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Eaton in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $375.00 target price for the company. Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and issued a $355.00 price target (up previously from $340.00) on shares of Eaton in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $312.00 price objective on shares of Eaton in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Eaton from $370.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.06.

Eaton Stock Performance

ETN traded down $1.18 during trading on Monday, hitting $296.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,237,908 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,067,504. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $321.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $304.51. The firm has a market cap of $118.58 billion, a PE ratio of 35.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.02. Eaton Co. plc has a one year low of $191.82 and a one year high of $345.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.12. Eaton had a return on equity of 20.69% and a net margin of 14.38%. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. Eaton’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 5th. Eaton’s payout ratio is 44.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other news, insider Peter Denk sold 2,416 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.84, for a total value of $801,725.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,687,738.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.