Employees Retirement System of Texas Sells 41,555 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Employees Retirement System of Texas trimmed its holdings in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 16.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 213,650 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 41,555 shares during the quarter. Eaton accounts for approximately 3.4% of Employees Retirement System of Texas’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Eaton were worth $709,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 13,497 shares during the period. Lighthouse Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at about $297,000. Webster Bank N. A. raised its stake in Eaton by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 17,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,949,000 after buying an additional 6,166 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in 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. boosted its position in shares of Eaton by 13.2% in the 4th 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Stock Performance

NYSE:ETN opened at $246.36 on Monday. Eaton Co. plc has a twelve month low of $222.60 and a twelve month high of $379.99. The company has a market capitalization of $96.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $296.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $330.24.

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 the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $2.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is an increase from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ETN. KeyCorp raised shares of Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Eaton from $335.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Melius downgraded shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $356.68.

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.