Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,578 shares during the quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $4,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in Eaton during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Eaton during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Eaton during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ETN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Eaton from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $286.00 to $371.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Argus lifted their price objective on Eaton from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Eaton from $279.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.27.

Eaton Price Performance

ETN stock opened at $330.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $316.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $271.09. Eaton Co. plc has a 52-week low of $167.33 and a 52-week high of $338.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.99, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.06.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.12. Eaton had a return on equity of 20.69% and a net margin of 14.38%. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.39%.

Insider Transactions at Eaton

In related news, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total transaction of $500,207.07. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,593,380.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Eaton news, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was 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 owns 5,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,593,380.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total transaction of $3,796,067.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 69,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,244,140.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,174 shares of company stock worth $5,098,000. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.