Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) Increases Dividend to $1.04 Per Share

Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 27th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of 1.04 per share by the industrial products company on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94.

Eaton has a dividend payout ratio of 31.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Eaton to earn $13.52 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.76 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.8%.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ETN opened at $290.08 on Friday. Eaton has a one year low of $255.65 and a one year high of $379.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.53, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $327.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $332.26.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Eaton will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ETN shares. Citigroup dropped their target price on Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Eaton in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $431.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Melius cut Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $366.05.

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.