Eaton’s (ETN) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Eaton (NYSE:ETN)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $374.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 12.44% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on ETN. Citigroup began coverage on Eaton in a report on Monday, September 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $348.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on Eaton from $327.00 to $320.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Raymond James lowered their price target on Eaton from $375.00 to $365.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Eaton from $370.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Eaton from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eaton has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $339.82.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of ETN traded up $1.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $332.61. The stock had a trading volume of 739,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,099,273. The firm has a market cap of $132.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.59, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $322.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $318.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Eaton has a 52 week low of $211.99 and a 52 week high of $349.74.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 21.45% and a net margin of 15.12%. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.47 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Eaton will post 10.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Dorothy C. Thompson purchased 2,205 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $300.30 per share, for a total transaction of $662,161.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,205 shares in the company, valued at $662,161.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Eaton news, Director Dorothy C. Thompson acquired 2,205 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $300.30 per share, for a total transaction of $662,161.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,205 shares in the company, valued at $662,161.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Taras G. Jr. Szmagala sold 335 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.72, for a total value of $96,721.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,858,328. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,511 shares of company stock worth $15,809,326 in the last ninety days. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETN. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eaton in the third quarter worth $2,321,000. Equitable Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 42.3% in the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 1,497 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 23.9% in the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,513,000 after acquiring an additional 2,044 shares during the period. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 28.8% in the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 546 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Eaton in the third quarter worth $195,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

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.