Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Increases Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 127.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,284 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $2,534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ETN. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in Eaton by 98.5% in the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 1,989 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in Eaton during the 2nd quarter valued at $270,000. XTX Topco Ltd increased its position in shares of Eaton by 14.8% in the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 6,415 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,011,000 after acquiring an additional 827 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 9.2% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 30,985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,715,000 after acquiring an additional 2,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 14.7% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 27,717 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,690,000 after purchasing an additional 3,548 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total transaction of $22,224,561.93. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 506,360 shares in the company, valued at $182,780,769.20. This trade represents a 10.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.30, for a total value of $1,341,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 51,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,241,796.60. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 76,981 shares of company stock valued at $27,660,117. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ETN shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Eaton from $320.00 to $353.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Eaton in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Eaton from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.89.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ETN opened at $346.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $354.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $329.53. Eaton Co. plc has a 52-week low of $236.20 and a 52-week high of $379.99. The company has a market cap of $136.95 billion, a PE ratio of 36.87, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.06.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.04. Eaton had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.47 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.8 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.00%.

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.