Ashburton Jersey Ltd Has $10.34 Million Stock Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Ashburton Jersey Ltd lessened its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 62.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,160 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 52,262 shares during the quarter. Eaton makes up about 4.6% of Ashburton Jersey Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Ashburton Jersey Ltd’s holdings in Eaton were worth $10,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. United Bank bought a new stake in Eaton during the third quarter worth $258,000. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Eaton during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its position in Eaton by 19.0% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 7,263 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,407,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Eaton by 74.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,057 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,299,000 after acquiring an additional 11,992 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 44,559 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,769,000 after purchasing an additional 6,913 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ETN shares. Melius Research reissued a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price objective on shares of Eaton in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $315.00 to $306.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI reduced 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 note on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $356.68.

Eaton Stock Down 5.6 %

Shares of ETN opened at $246.36 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business has a fifty day moving average of $296.43 and a 200 day moving average of $330.13. The company has a market cap of $96.52 billion, a PE ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. Eaton Co. plc has a 52-week low of $236.58 and a 52-week high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released 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 net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 22.62%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.55 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.