Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN) Shares Purchased by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp lifted its stake in Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN) by 16.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 780 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Eaton were worth $212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ETN. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Eaton in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Eaton during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in Eaton by 102.0% during the first quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Eaton during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management increased its stake in Eaton by 73.8% during the first quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ETN shares. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Eaton in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Eaton from $326.00 to $349.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Eaton in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $380.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $396.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Eaton from $355.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $383.63.

Eaton Trading Down 1.6%

ETN opened at $357.32 on Thursday. Eaton Corporation, PLC has a 12 month low of $231.85 and a 12 month high of $399.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.95, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $357.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $318.17.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.03. Eaton had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 15.11%. The firm had revenue of $7.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.73 EPS. Eaton’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Eaton Corporation, PLC will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. Eaton’s payout ratio is 41.85%.

Insider Transactions at Eaton

In other Eaton news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 16,018 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.39, for a total transaction of $5,740,691.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $225,785.70. The trade was a 96.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.