Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Cut to “Hold” at Melius

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) was downgraded by analysts at Melius from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $373.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock. Melius’ target price points to a potential upside of 17.33% from the stock’s current price.

ETN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Eaton from $365.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Eaton in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Eaton from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Eaton has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $369.30.

Eaton Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of ETN opened at $317.90 on Tuesday. Eaton has a twelve month low of $245.65 and a twelve month high of $379.99. The stock has a market cap of $125.63 billion, a PE ratio of 33.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $351.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $331.21.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.04. Eaton had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 21.97%. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.47 EPS. Eaton’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Eaton will post 10.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Eaton

In related news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.98, for a total value of $3,559,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 43,203 shares in the company, valued at $15,379,403.94. The trade was a 18.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total transaction of $22,224,561.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 506,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,780,769.20. This trade represents a 10.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 76,981 shares of company stock worth $27,660,117. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in Eaton by 83.2% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 4,298 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 321.7% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 97 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Eaton during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in Eaton by 621.4% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Eaton during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 82.97% 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.