Gladstone Capital Management LLP Invests $73.19 Million in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Gladstone Capital Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 220,536 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,189,000. Eaton comprises 6.1% of Gladstone Capital Management LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Gladstone Capital Management LLP owned 0.06% of Eaton at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Eaton in the fourth quarter worth about $1,495,582,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 42,255.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 732,323 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $243,036,000 after purchasing an additional 730,594 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its holdings in shares of Eaton by 390.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 539,673 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $193,421,000 after purchasing an additional 429,701 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Eaton by 3,508.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 401,728 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $133,321,000 after purchasing an additional 390,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Eaton by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,744,691 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $910,881,000 after purchasing an additional 323,065 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on ETN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on 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 cut shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Eaton from $315.00 to $306.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $356.68.

Eaton Trading Down 5.6 %

NYSE ETN opened at $246.36 on Friday. 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 Co. plc has a fifty-two week low of $236.58 and a fifty-two week high of $379.99. The stock has a market cap of $96.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $296.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $330.00.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 period last year, the business earned $2.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s payout ratio is presently 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.