Intech Investment Management LLC Lowers Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Intech Investment Management LLC lowered its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 14.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,585 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,387 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $6,500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETN. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Westmount Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Eaton by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Eaton by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 896 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 1,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ETN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Melius downgraded Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Eaton from $353.00 to $325.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.68.

Eaton Stock Down 2.2 %

ETN stock opened at $290.59 on Wednesday. Eaton Co. plc has a one year low of $255.65 and a one year high of $379.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.59, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $314.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $331.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.50.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its earnings results 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 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s payout ratio is presently 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.