Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Lifted to Outperform at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Eaton (NYSE:ETN) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $371.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $286.00.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Eaton from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and lifted their price target for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $287.40.

Eaton Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE ETN opened at $325.92 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Eaton has a 52 week low of $155.38 and a 52 week high of $331.47. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $292.28 and its 200 day moving average is $248.82. The company has a market cap of $130.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.64, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were given a $0.94 dividend. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. Eaton’s payout ratio is 46.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eaton news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total value of $1,213,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $171,360. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total transaction of $1,213,392.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $171,360. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total transaction of $500,207.07. Following the sale, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,969 shares of company stock valued at $10,904,774. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Emprise Bank bought a new position in shares of Eaton during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,587,000. Atlas Brown Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eaton during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 39.9% during the 1st quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,651 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,581,000 after acquiring an additional 4,178 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,935,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 112.0% during the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 602,152 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $188,281,000 after acquiring an additional 318,102 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Eaton

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.