Pitcairn Co. Raises Stock Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Pitcairn Co. increased its stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 12.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 786 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $2,438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Breakwater Investment Management increased its position in Eaton by 1,560.0% during the 2nd quarter. Breakwater Investment Management now owns 83 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Eaton in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eaton in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eaton in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Eaton in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of ETN stock opened at $377.41 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $149.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s 50 day moving average is $342.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $322.97. Eaton Co. plc has a 12-month low of $224.52 and a 12-month high of $378.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.47 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ETN. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Eaton in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research raised Eaton from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $374.00 price objective on shares of Eaton in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group began coverage on Eaton in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $431.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James dropped their target price on Eaton from $375.00 to $365.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Dorothy C. Thompson acquired 2,205 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $300.30 per share, for a total transaction of $662,161.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,205 shares in the company, valued at $662,161.50. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total value of $22,224,561.93. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 506,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,780,769.20. This trade represents a 10.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 68,705 shares of company stock worth $24,516,346 over the last quarter. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.