Davis Selected Advisers Grows Stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Davis Selected Advisers grew its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN – Get Rating) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 195,536 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 191 shares during the quarter. Davis Selected Advisers’ holdings in Eaton were worth $30,689,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Eaton by 28.5% in the third quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,916,352 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $922,424,000 after buying an additional 1,533,229 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. acquired a new position in Eaton in the 4th quarter worth $227,905,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,322,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $959,460,000 after buying an additional 943,279 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eaton by 63.8% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management LLC now owns 1,953,682 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $260,543,000 after purchasing an additional 760,852 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at about $74,960,000. 80.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ETN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Eaton from $201.00 to $221.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 11th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Eaton from $145.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. 92 Resources reissued a “maintains” rating on shares of Eaton in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Eaton from $168.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.77.

Eaton Stock Performance

ETN traded up $5.51 during trading on Friday, hitting $182.46. The stock had a trading volume of 2,639,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,981,888. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $166.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $164.70. Eaton Co. plc has a twelve month low of $122.50 and a twelve month high of $182.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.15, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.50.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The industrial products company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.10. Eaton had a return on equity of 18.70% and a net margin of 12.00%. The company had revenue of $5.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 8.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 8th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 5th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian S. Brickhouse sold 21,347 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.97, for a total transaction of $3,777,778.59. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,814,707.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Brian S. Brickhouse sold 21,347 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.97, for a total transaction of $3,777,778.59. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,905 shares in the company, valued at $2,814,707.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Joao V. Faria sold 5,204 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.55, for a total transaction of $908,358.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 76,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,320,608.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,051 shares of company stock worth $5,127,912 over the last ninety days. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Eaton Company Profile

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Eaton Corp. Plc is a power management company, which provides energy-efficient solutions for electrical, hydraulic, and mechanical power. It operates through the following segments: Electrical Americas and Electrical Global, Aerospace, Vehicle, and eMobility. The Electrical Americas and Electrical Global segments engage in sales contracts for electrical components, industrial components, power distribution and assemblies, residential products, single and three phase power quality, wiring devices, circuit protection, utility power distribution, power reliability equipment, and service.