Wellington Shields & Co. LLC Purchases 581 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Wellington Shields & Co. LLC increased its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 17.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,997 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $1,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ETN. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Eaton in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in Eaton by 83.2% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 4,298 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN lifted its stake in Eaton by 321.7% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 97 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Eaton during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in Eaton by 621.4% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Trading Up 3.8 %

Eaton stock opened at $294.53 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Eaton Co. plc has a 12-month low of $255.65 and a 12-month high of $379.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $316.31 and a 200 day moving average of $331.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.01. Eaton had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 22.62%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ETN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Eaton from $353.00 to $325.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Melius cut shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Melius Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $356.20.

Eaton 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.