Mizuho Securities USA LLC Boosts Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 45.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,456 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 11,641 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $12,431,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ETN. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Eaton by 253.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,273,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $753,590,000 after buying an additional 1,629,856 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 42,255.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 732,323 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $243,036,000 after purchasing an additional 730,594 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 32.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,419,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $801,798,000 after purchasing an additional 597,700 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 390.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 539,673 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $193,421,000 after purchasing an additional 429,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 3,508.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 401,728 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $133,321,000 after purchasing an additional 390,595 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of ETN stock opened at $295.88 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $311.30 and a 200 day moving average of $331.08. Eaton Co. plc has a 52 week low of $255.65 and a 52 week high of $379.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.14, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.01. Eaton had a return on equity of 22.62% and a net margin of 15.25%. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.04 dividend. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on ETN. KeyCorp raised Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Melius lowered Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Melius Research restated a “hold” rating and issued a $373.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $357.68.

Eaton Company 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.