Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Position Boosted by Spring Capital Management LLC

Spring Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 32,212 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 793 shares during the period. Eaton makes up 6.4% of Spring Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Spring Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $10,690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Eaton by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,069,341 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,665,342,000 after acquiring an additional 56,516 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Eaton by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,206,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,005,317,000 after purchasing an additional 18,077 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Eaton by 15.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,421,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $836,938,000 after purchasing an additional 316,830 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Eaton by 32.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,419,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $801,798,000 after purchasing an additional 597,700 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Eaton by 253.2% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,273,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $753,590,000 after buying an additional 1,629,856 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Eaton Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE ETN opened at $346.54 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $354.73 and a 200-day moving average of $329.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $136.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.87, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Eaton Co. plc has a 12 month low of $236.20 and a 12 month high of $379.99.

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

Eaton Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Eaton news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.30, for a total transaction of $1,341,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 51,422 shares in the company, valued at $17,241,796.60. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $22,224,561.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 506,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,780,769.20. This represents a 10.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 76,981 shares of company stock worth $27,660,117. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ETN shares. Mizuho increased their price target on Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Eaton from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $333.00 to $389.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.89.

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.