Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Eaton (NYSE:ETN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Monday.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on ETN. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Eaton from $350.00 to $289.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Eaton from $396.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Eaton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $350.22.

Eaton Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of ETN stock opened at $277.05 on Monday. Eaton has a fifty-two week low of $231.85 and a fifty-two week high of $379.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $288.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $326.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.50. The company has a market cap of $108.54 billion, a PE ratio of 29.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share 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 firm earned $2.55 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Eaton will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $1.04 dividend. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s payout ratio is presently 43.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ETN. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Eaton in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 74.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Eaton during the third quarter worth approximately $255,000. Advisory Resource Group lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 4,358 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chelsea Counsel Co. grew its position in Eaton by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 220 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 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.