Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Makes New $4.87 Million Investment in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 20,219 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,869,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in shares of Eaton in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eaton in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new position in Eaton in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Eaton during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eaton Stock Down 1.9 %

NYSE:ETN opened at $303.22 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $300.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $254.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.51. Eaton Co. plc has a fifty-two week low of $161.12 and a fifty-two week high of $331.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.07.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.08. Eaton had a net margin of 13.88% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.06 earnings per share. Eaton’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were given a $0.94 dividend. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eaton news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total value of $3,796,067.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 69,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,244,140.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Eaton news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total transaction of $3,796,067.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 69,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,244,140.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total value of $500,207.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,593,380.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,969 shares of company stock worth $10,904,774 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Eaton from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Eaton from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating and set a $312.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Eaton from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $286.00 to $371.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Eaton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $295.60.

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.