Kennondale Capital Management LLC Makes New $2.22 Million Investment in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Kennondale Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 6,676 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,216,000. Eaton comprises approximately 1.8% of Kennondale Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $13,533,000 after buying an additional 13,497 shares during the period. Lighthouse Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter worth $297,000. Webster Bank N. A. increased its stake 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 worth $5,949,000 after buying an additional 6,166 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 9,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,072,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 14,494 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,804,000 after buying an additional 1,694 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on ETN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Eaton from $353.00 to $325.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.68.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of Eaton stock opened at $297.31 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $116.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.30, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $315.29 and its 200 day moving average is $331.78. Eaton Co. plc has a 1 year low of $255.65 and a 1 year high of $379.99. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.01. Eaton had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 22.62%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $1.04 dividend. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. 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 1.40%. Eaton’s payout ratio is presently 43.79%.

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.