Ledyard National Bank Reduces Stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Ledyard National Bank trimmed its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 47,518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,673 shares during the quarter. Eaton makes up 1.2% of Ledyard National Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Eaton were worth $11,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ETN. Golden State Equity Partners boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 6.7% during the third quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 1,892 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $404,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Eaton by 23.8% in the third quarter. Lake Street Financial LLC now owns 1,933 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $417,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its stake in shares of Eaton by 18.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 17,608 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,755,000 after buying an additional 2,720 shares during the period. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH boosted its position in Eaton by 8.8% during the third quarter. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH now owns 24,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,232,000 after acquiring an additional 1,993 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FAS Wealth Partners Inc. grew its stake in Eaton by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 11,492 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,451,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ETN shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Mizuho upped their price objective on Eaton from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.60.

Eaton Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ETN traded up $2.54 during trading on Monday, hitting $326.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,151,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,971,578. Eaton Co. plc has a fifty-two week low of $165.24 and a fifty-two week high of $331.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $305.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $259.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.51. The company has a market capitalization of $130.57 billion, a PE ratio of 40.75, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.07.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 13.88%. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.06 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.28 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.88%.

Insider Transactions at Eaton

In other news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total value of $1,213,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $171,360. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $5,395,107.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,116,427.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total value of $1,213,392.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 630 shares in the company, valued at $171,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 38,969 shares of company stock worth $10,904,774. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.