Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Holdings Increased by Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc.

Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 174,115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,820 shares during the period. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $57,784,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ETN. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Eaton during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN grew its holdings in Eaton by 321.7% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 97 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Eaton during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its position in Eaton by 621.4% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now owns 43,203 shares in the company, valued at $15,379,403.94. This represents a 18.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on ETN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Melius Research restated a “hold” rating and issued a $373.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $356.20.

Eaton Stock Performance

ETN stock opened at $292.13 on Thursday. Eaton Co. plc has a twelve month low of $255.65 and a twelve month high of $379.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $114.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s fifty day moving average is $318.25 and its 200-day moving average is $331.65.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released 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 return on equity of 22.62% and a net margin of 15.25%. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.55 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Eaton’s payout ratio is currently 43.79%.

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.