Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Lowered to “Inline” Rating by Evercore ISI

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Evercore ISI from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $389.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $333.00. Evercore ISI’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 5.41% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on ETN. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Eaton from $315.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Eaton in a report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $370.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Eaton from $375.00 to $365.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Eaton in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Eaton from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $346.39.

Eaton Price Performance

ETN opened at $369.05 on Wednesday. Eaton has a 1 year low of $220.24 and a 1 year high of $373.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.53. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $331.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $320.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.85 billion, a PE ratio of 39.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.01.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 15.32%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.47 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eaton will post 10.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Eaton

In related news, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total transaction of $22,224,561.93. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 506,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,780,769.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Eaton news, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total value of $22,224,561.93. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 506,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,780,769.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.30, for a total value of $1,341,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 51,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,241,796.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 117,745 shares of company stock valued at $39,278,367. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eaton

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Breakwater Investment Management boosted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 1,560.0% during the second quarter. Breakwater Investment Management now owns 83 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Eaton during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eaton in the second quarter worth $33,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton during the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Eaton in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

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.