Hills Bank & Trust Co Buys 947 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Hills Bank & Trust Co lifted its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 85.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,050 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 947 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Eaton were worth $680,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Eaton by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Westmount Partners LLC raised its position in Eaton by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its position in Eaton by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 896 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC raised its position in Eaton by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH raised its position in Eaton by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 1,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ETN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Melius Research reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $357.68.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of ETN opened at $294.53 on Friday. 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 $115.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $316.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $331.54. Eaton Co. plc has a 12 month low of $255.65 and a 12 month high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.55 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is 43.79%.

Eaton 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.