Barclays Cuts Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Price Target to $306.00

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) had its target price lowered by Barclays from $315.00 to $306.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

ETN has been the subject of several other reports. Melius Research reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $373.00 price objective on shares of Eaton in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Melius cut Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $356.68.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of ETN opened at $246.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $96.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.93, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. 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’s 50 day moving average is $296.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $330.24. Eaton has a 52-week low of $236.58 and a 52-week high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm earned $2.55 EPS. Analysts forecast that Eaton will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eaton

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eaton by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,217,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,351,506,000 after acquiring an additional 99,291 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Eaton by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,222,248 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,051,807,000 after purchasing an additional 182,455 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Eaton by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,198,412 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,714,677,000 after purchasing an additional 129,071 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Eaton by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 4,671,185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,550,226,000 after purchasing an additional 192,482 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Eaton by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,574,704 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,518,207,000 after purchasing an additional 368,241 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

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.