Pitcairn Co. Has $2.49 Million Stock Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Pitcairn Co. grew its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,494 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $2,487,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ETN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Eaton by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,217,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,351,506,000 after purchasing an additional 99,291 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Eaton by 1.6% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 129,071 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at $1,495,582,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Eaton by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,744,691 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $910,881,000 after purchasing an additional 323,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Eaton by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,255,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $748,555,000 after purchasing an additional 37,138 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ETN shares. StockNews.com lowered Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. KeyCorp raised shares of Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $357.16.

Eaton Stock Performance

NYSE ETN opened at $284.40 on Thursday. Eaton Co. plc has a twelve month low of $255.65 and a twelve month high of $379.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $301.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $330.91. The stock has a market cap of $111.42 billion, a PE ratio of 29.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the company earned $2.55 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.79%.

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.