Allianz SE Makes New Investment in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Allianz SE acquired a new stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,220 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $738,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ETN. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Eaton in the 4th quarter worth about $1,495,582,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Eaton by 42,255.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 732,323 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $243,036,000 after purchasing an additional 730,594 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 597,700 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its stake in Eaton by 390.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 539,673 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $193,421,000 after buying an additional 429,701 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Eaton by 3,508.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 401,728 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $133,321,000 after acquiring an additional 390,595 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ETN shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com lowered Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Melius Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $373.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.16.

Eaton Stock Down 2.4 %

ETN stock opened at $274.05 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. Eaton Co. plc has a 12 month low of $255.65 and a 12 month high of $379.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $305.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $331.66.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the firm posted $2.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. Eaton’s payout ratio is presently 43.79%.

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.