Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Stock Price

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) had its price objective lowered by Barclays from $315.00 to $306.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Melius Research reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price objective on shares of Eaton in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Melius lowered Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $356.68.

Eaton Price Performance

NYSE ETN opened at $246.36 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.50. The business’s fifty day moving average is $296.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $330.24. Eaton has a 1 year low of $236.58 and a 1 year high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.01. Eaton had a return on equity of 22.62% and a net margin of 15.25%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Eaton will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s payout ratio is presently 43.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,495,582,000. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in shares of Eaton during the 4th quarter worth about $523,541,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Eaton by 42,255.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 732,323 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $243,036,000 after purchasing an additional 730,594 shares during the period. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $231,552,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Eaton by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,007,570 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $998,144,000 after buying an additional 588,370 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.