Arizona State Retirement System Raises Stock Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 115,242 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 695 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Eaton were worth $38,245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Westmount Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Eaton by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 896 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Eaton by 2.1% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,549 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on ETN. Melius Research reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $373.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Eaton in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America upped their target price on Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Eaton from $353.00 to $325.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $364.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.98, for a total transaction of $3,559,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 43,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,379,403.94. This represents a 18.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Eaton Price Performance

NYSE:ETN opened at $278.94 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $110.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.36, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $324.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $332.49. 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 one year low of $255.65 and a one year high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the company posted $2.55 EPS. Research analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s payout ratio is currently 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.