Homestead Advisers Corp Has $97.07 Million Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Homestead Advisers Corp lowered its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 292,504 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,600 shares during the period. Eaton accounts for 2.3% of Homestead Advisers Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Homestead Advisers Corp’s holdings in Eaton were worth $97,073,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 48.9% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 41,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,533,000 after buying an additional 13,497 shares in the last quarter. Lighthouse Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at about $297,000. Webster Bank N. A. raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 17,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,949,000 after acquiring an additional 6,166 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Eaton by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 9,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,072,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 14,494 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on ETN. StockNews.com lowered Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Melius Research restated a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Eaton from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $357.16.

Eaton Stock Performance

ETN opened at $285.60 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $111.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $308.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $331.57. Eaton Co. plc has a 1 year low of $255.65 and a 1 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.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.79%.

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.