Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $409.36 and last traded at $410.2560, with a volume of 1054934 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $392.73.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ETN shares. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective (down from $440.00) on shares of Eaton in a report on Sunday, January 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Eaton from $440.00 to $406.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Eaton in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $407.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Eaton from $370.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Eaton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $396.50.

Eaton Stock Up 3.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $157.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.86, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $371.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $357.33.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter. Eaton had a return on equity of 25.00% and a net margin of 14.89%.The company had revenue of $7.06 billion during the quarter. Equities research analysts anticipate that Eaton Corporation, PLC will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a $1.10 dividend. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.04. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In related news, insider Sternadt Paulo Ruiz sold 10,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.26, for a total value of $4,178,513.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,821,519.54. This trade represents a 27.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ETN. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Eaton in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Sfam LLC bought a new position in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in shares of Eaton during the second quarter valued at $36,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Eaton Company Profile

Eaton (NYSE: ETN) is a diversified power management company that designs, manufactures and distributes products and systems to manage electrical, hydraulic and mechanical power. The company’s offerings are used to improve energy efficiency, reliability and safety across a wide range of applications, with core capabilities in electrical distribution and control, industrial hydraulics and aerospace systems.

Its product portfolio includes switchgear, circuit breakers, transformers, power distribution units, uninterruptible power supplies and surge protection devices for electrical infrastructure, along with hydraulic pumps, valves and filtration systems for industrial and mobile equipment.