Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Downgraded by Melius to “Hold”

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) was downgraded by investment analysts at Melius from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $373.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock. Melius’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 20.28% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on ETN. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group began coverage on Eaton in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $431.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Eaton from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $333.00 to $389.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eaton has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $369.11.

Eaton Stock Down 16.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ETN opened at $310.11 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.55 billion, a PE ratio of 32.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $353.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $331.47. Eaton has a 1 year low of $244.35 and a 1 year high of $379.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 previous year, the business earned $2.47 EPS. Eaton’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Eaton will post 10.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Eaton

In other Eaton news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.98, for a total value of $3,559,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 43,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,379,403.94. This trade represents a 18.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total transaction of $22,224,561.93. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 506,360 shares in the company, valued at $182,780,769.20. This trade represents a 10.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 76,981 shares of company stock valued at $27,660,117 in the last quarter. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eaton

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETN. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 89,687 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,686 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in Eaton by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,436,051 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $476,582,000 after buying an additional 13,862 shares during the period. Telligent Fund LP acquired a new stake in Eaton during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,991,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter worth $210,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.