Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Eaton (NYSE:ETN)

Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors purchased 9,901 call options on the company. This is an increase of 32% compared to the typical daily volume of 7,493 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ETN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Eaton in a research report on Monday, March 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $430.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on Eaton from $435.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Eaton in a research report on Friday, March 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $428.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Eaton in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $370.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $396.50.

Eaton Stock Performance

NYSE:ETN traded up $1.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $425.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,009,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,749,595. Eaton has a 1 year low of $283.00 and a 1 year high of $432.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $165.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.71, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.17. The business’s fifty day moving average is $374.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $358.70.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter. Eaton had a net margin of 14.89% and a return on equity of 25.00%. The company had revenue of $7.06 billion for the quarter. Analysts anticipate that Eaton will post 13.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.07%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Sternadt Paulo Ruiz sold 10,707 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.26, for a total transaction of $4,178,513.82. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,821,519.54. This represents a 27.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eaton

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. North Star Investment Management Corp. boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 8,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,897,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its position in shares of Eaton by 40.4% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 793 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN raised its position in shares of Eaton by 30.2% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 797 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Eaton by 22.6% during the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,470 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $883,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Eaton by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eaton Company Profile

Eaton (NYSE: ETN) is a diversified power management company that designs, manufactures and distributes products and systems to manage electrical, hydraulic and mechanical power. The company’s offerings are used to improve energy efficiency, reliability and safety across a wide range of applications, with core capabilities in electrical distribution and control, industrial hydraulics and aerospace systems.

Its product portfolio includes switchgear, circuit breakers, transformers, power distribution units, uninterruptible power supplies and surge protection devices for electrical infrastructure, along with hydraulic pumps, valves and filtration systems for industrial and mobile equipment.