Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Stock

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) had its price target raised by stock analysts at Citigroup from $394.00 to $440.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target points to a potential upside of 20.21% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Eaton in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI lowered Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and upped their price target for the company from $333.00 to $389.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on Eaton from $320.00 to $353.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Eaton presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $367.83.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of ETN stock traded down $5.18 on Monday, hitting $366.04. The company had a trading volume of 1,288,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,084,461. The firm has a market cap of $144.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.03. Eaton has a twelve month low of $231.84 and a twelve month high of $379.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $352.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $325.81.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.04. Eaton had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.47 EPS. Eaton’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Eaton will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total value of $22,224,561.93. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 506,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,780,769.20. This represents a 10.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.58, for a total transaction of $534,554.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 31,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,811,696. The trade was a 4.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,981 shares of company stock worth $24,100,317 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Logan Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Eaton by 76.8% during the third quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,771 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,210,000 after purchasing an additional 10,764 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in Eaton in the third quarter valued at $8,406,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eaton by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,421,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $836,938,000 after buying an additional 316,830 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its position in Eaton by 0.5% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 15,621 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,177,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in Eaton by 3.2% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 42,032 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,931,000 after acquiring an additional 1,309 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

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.