Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC Has $205,000 Stock Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC decreased its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 37.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 851 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 518 shares during the period. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $205,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 0.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,336,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,749,751,000 after purchasing an additional 176,900 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Eaton by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 19,921,979 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,248,960,000 after buying an additional 5,270,331 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Eaton by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,034,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,425,595,000 after acquiring an additional 495,948 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Eaton by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,542,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,968,521,000 after acquiring an additional 2,602,246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Eaton by 2.0% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,084,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,210,672,000 after purchasing an additional 136,334 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETN traded down $0.73 on Thursday, hitting $313.67. The company had a trading volume of 976,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,761,323. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $278.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $242.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $125.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.07. Eaton Co. plc has a 1-year low of $155.38 and a 1-year high of $317.02.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.08. Eaton had a net margin of 13.88% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $5.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.06 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.25 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 8th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Eaton’s payout ratio is currently 46.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total transaction of $1,213,392.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $171,360. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total transaction of $1,213,392.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $171,360. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total value of $500,207.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,593,380.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,969 shares of company stock worth $10,904,774 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group increased their target price on Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Eaton from $220.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $274.20.

Eaton 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.