Jefferies Financial Group Cuts Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Price Target to $335.00

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) had its price target cut by Jefferies Financial Group from $390.00 to $335.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on ETN. KeyCorp upgraded Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America raised their price objective on Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Melius lowered Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Eaton from $353.00 to $325.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $356.20.

Eaton Price Performance

NYSE:ETN opened at $294.53 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $316.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $331.29. Eaton has a 1-year low of $255.65 and a 1-year high of $379.99. The firm has a market cap of $115.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 EPS 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 company earned $2.55 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Eaton will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Eaton by 48.9% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 41,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,533,000 after buying an additional 13,497 shares in the last quarter. Lighthouse Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter worth about $297,000. Webster Bank N. A. raised its position in shares of Eaton by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 17,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,949,000 after buying an additional 6,166 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eaton by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 9,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,072,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Eaton by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 14,494 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,804,000 after acquiring an additional 1,694 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

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.