Gallo Partners LP Acquires New Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Gallo Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Eaton by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,217,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,351,506,000 after buying an additional 99,291 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,222,248 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,051,807,000 after buying an additional 182,455 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,198,412 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,714,677,000 after purchasing an additional 129,071 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Eaton by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,574,704 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,518,207,000 after purchasing an additional 368,241 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Eaton during the 4th quarter worth about $1,495,582,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ETN has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Melius Research restated a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $289.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Melius lowered shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $350.22.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of ETN stock opened at $291.12 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $280.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $322.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $114.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. Eaton Co. plc has a one year low of $231.85 and a one year high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $2.55 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.