Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Raises Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN - Free Report) by 13.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,772 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 924 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.'s holdings in Eaton were worth $2,579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. United Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Eaton during the third quarter worth $258,000. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Eaton by 48.1% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 5,081 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,684,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eaton by 114.1% in the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 2,843 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,515 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of Eaton by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 53,966 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $17,887,000 after purchasing an additional 1,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PDT Partners LLC grew its stake in Eaton by 35.5% during the third quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 18,703 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,199,000 after purchasing an additional 4,903 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of Eaton stock traded down $20.63 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $263.21. 1,996,352 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,550,243. The company has a market capitalization of $103.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $301.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $330.91. Eaton Co. plc has a 12 month low of $255.65 and a 12 month high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN - Get Free Report) last issued 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 quarter last year, the company earned $2.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Eaton's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Eaton's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on ETN. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Eaton from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp raised shares of Eaton from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $340.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Melius Research reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $373.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eaton presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $357.16.

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.