Cerity Partners LLC Buys 943 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 111,262 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 943 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $36,912,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Eaton by 0.3% during the fourth 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 lifted its position in Eaton by 1.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 182,455 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Eaton by 1.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 129,071 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Eaton in the fourth quarter worth $1,495,582,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased 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 worth $910,881,000 after purchasing an additional 323,065 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eaton Stock Up 2.5 %

Eaton stock opened at $252.67 on Tuesday. Eaton Co. plc has a 52 week low of $231.85 and a 52 week high of $379.99. The firm has a market cap of $98.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $295.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $329.70. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 22.62%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.55 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on Eaton from $315.00 to $306.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Citigroup dropped their price target on Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. KeyCorp raised shares of Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Melius downgraded shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $356.68.

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.