Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Decreases Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC cut its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 43 shares during the quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $926,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Eaton by 48.9% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 41,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,533,000 after acquiring an additional 13,497 shares during the period. Lighthouse Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eaton during the 4th quarter valued at $297,000. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its holdings in Eaton by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 17,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,949,000 after purchasing an additional 6,166 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in Eaton by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 9,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,072,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Eaton by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 14,494 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,804,000 after buying an additional 1,694 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ETN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Melius Research reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $373.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Melius lowered shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $356.20.

Eaton Stock Down 3.0 %

ETN opened at $283.16 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $317.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $331.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.81, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Eaton Co. plc has a twelve month low of $255.65 and a twelve month high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.79%.

Eaton 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.