Suncoast Equity Management Acquires 4,049 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Suncoast Equity Management lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 28.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,215 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,049 shares during the quarter. Eaton makes up about 0.6% of Suncoast Equity Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Suncoast Equity Management’s holdings in Eaton were worth $4,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eaton during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Eaton during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Eaton in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Eaton in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Eaton

In related news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $5,395,107.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,116,427.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $5,395,107.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,116,427.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total value of $500,207.07. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,593,380.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,969 shares of company stock worth $10,904,774 in the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ETN traded down $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $315.19. 663,781 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,876,633. Eaton Co. plc has a 52-week low of $161.12 and a 52-week high of $331.47. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $297.85 and a 200-day moving average of $252.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $5.97 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.06 EPS. Analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is 46.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ETN. Barclays upgraded Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on Eaton from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Eaton from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $286.00 to $371.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.60.

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.