Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Boosts Stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,724 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Eaton were worth $5,218,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Titleist Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Eaton by 49.9% during the 4th quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $764,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares during the last quarter. Darden Wealth Group Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Darden Wealth Group Inc now owns 10,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,385,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co purchased a new stake in Eaton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,561,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Eaton by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 412,030 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $136,771,000 after buying an additional 39,520 shares during the period. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its position in Eaton by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 10,422 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,459,000 after buying an additional 784 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eaton Stock Down 5.6 %

ETN opened at $246.36 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Eaton Co. plc has a twelve month low of $222.60 and a twelve month high of $379.99. The company has a market cap of $96.52 billion, a PE ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $296.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $330.24.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.01. Eaton had a return on equity of 22.62% and a net margin of 15.25%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ETN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $315.00 to $306.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp raised Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Melius lowered Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eaton has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $356.68.

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.