Smith Moore & CO. Has $3.01 Million Stock Holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Smith Moore & CO. grew its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,065 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $3,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ETN. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Eaton in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its position in shares of Eaton by 321.7% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Eaton during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in Eaton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of Eaton stock opened at $260.74 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $298.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $330.42. Eaton Co. plc has a twelve month low of $251.97 and a twelve month high of $379.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (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 period in the previous year, the company earned $2.55 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $1.04 dividend. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Eaton’s payout ratio is 43.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Melius lowered shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.16.

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.