Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Grows Stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. grew its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN - Free Report) by 57.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,571 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,907 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings in Eaton were worth $7,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. United Bank bought a new position in shares of Eaton in the 3rd quarter worth $258,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Eaton in the third quarter valued at $295,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Eaton by 4.8% during the third quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 896 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eaton in the 3rd quarter worth about $6,632,000. Finally, Howe & Rusling Inc. increased its position in shares of Eaton by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 900 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ETN shares. KeyCorp upgraded Eaton from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $340.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Eaton from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Melius downgraded shares of Eaton from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $373.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $357.68.

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Eaton Trading Down 0.9 %

ETN stock traded down $2.73 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $300.11. The company had a trading volume of 3,393,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,406,297. The business has a 50 day moving average of $310.56 and a 200 day moving average of $331.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $117.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.59, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. Eaton Co. plc has a 52 week low of $255.65 and a 52 week high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $2.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is a boost from Eaton's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Eaton's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.79%.

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.