Accel Wealth Management Invests $208,000 in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Accel Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 865 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETN. Buckley Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Eaton during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,074,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its position in shares of Eaton by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $366,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter worth $603,000. S.A. Mason LLC increased its position in shares of Eaton by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 801 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $193,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Eaton by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 26,243 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,320,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ETN traded down $1.72 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $312.68. The stock had a trading volume of 1,977,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,779,236. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business’s fifty day moving average is $278.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $242.64. Eaton Co. plc has a twelve month low of $155.38 and a twelve month high of $317.02. The company has a market cap of $124.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.97, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.07.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 13.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.06 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.25 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 8th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $20,244,140.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Eaton news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was 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 directly owns 69,472 shares in the company, valued at $20,244,140.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total value of $1,213,392.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $171,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,969 shares of company stock valued at $10,904,774. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ETN. Citigroup boosted their price target on Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.20.

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.