Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Stock Price Down 1.2% – Here’s Why

Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) traded down 1.2% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $372.60 and last traded at $373.04. 190,975 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 2,084,457 shares. The stock had previously closed at $377.52.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho upped their price target on Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Eaton in a report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $370.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $374.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a report on Friday, November 1st. Raymond James reduced their price target on Eaton from $375.00 to $365.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Eaton in a report on Monday, September 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $348.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eaton presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $362.72.

Eaton Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $146.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.49, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $351.88 and a 200 day moving average of $325.70.

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

Eaton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. Eaton’s payout ratio is 40.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.58, for a total transaction of $534,554.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,200 shares in the company, valued at $11,811,696. This trade represents a 4.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.30, for a total value of $1,341,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 51,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,241,796.60. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 66,981 shares of company stock worth $24,100,317. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. IAM Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eaton during the second quarter worth $599,000. Interval Partners LP boosted its holdings in Eaton by 82.7% in the second quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 151,716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,571,000 after purchasing an additional 68,693 shares during the period. Scientech Research LLC boosted its holdings in Eaton by 285.5% in the second quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 5,744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 4,254 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Eaton by 25.9% in the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 27,609 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,657,000 after purchasing an additional 5,676 shares during the period. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Eaton by 67.6% in the second quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,683,000 after purchasing an additional 3,452 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.