Vontobel Holding Ltd. Buys 1,346 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 16,604 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,346 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $3,999,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Eaton by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Amarillo National Bank raised its stake in Eaton by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Amarillo National Bank now owns 1,270 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Red Spruce Capital LLC raised its stake in Eaton by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 17,522 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,220,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. GSG Advisors LLC raised its stake in Eaton by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 2,227 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $519,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in Eaton by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,334 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on ETN shares. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $312.00 price objective on shares of Eaton in a report on Monday, April 8th. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Eaton from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. UBS Group increased their target price on Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eaton has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $295.60.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of ETN opened at $310.15 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $123.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50-day moving average of $299.48 and a 200-day moving average of $253.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Eaton Co. plc has a 1 year low of $161.12 and a 1 year high of $331.47.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 13.88%. 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 company posted $2.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc 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 issued a $0.94 dividend. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. Eaton’s payout ratio is presently 46.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other Eaton news, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 at this hyperlink. In other Eaton news, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 at this hyperlink. Also, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total value of $3,796,067.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 69,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,244,140.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 38,969 shares of company stock valued at $10,904,774. Company insiders own 0.33% 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.