Kieckhefer Group LLC Purchases New Stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in Eaton by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 2,820 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $936,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its position in Eaton by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 16,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,428,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its stake in Eaton by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 29,649 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,839,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 721 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastover Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at about $6,167,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Eaton Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of ETN traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $341.59. The company had a trading volume of 949,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,057,271. The firm has a market cap of $135.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.06. Eaton Co. plc has a 52-week low of $236.04 and a 52-week high of $379.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $355.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $328.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.04. Eaton had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.47 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.8 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.30, for a total value of $1,341,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 51,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,241,796.60. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total value of $22,224,561.93. Following the sale, the insider now owns 506,360 shares in the company, valued at $182,780,769.20. This represents a 10.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 76,981 shares of company stock worth $27,660,117. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ETN. Evercore ISI downgraded Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $333.00 to $389.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Eaton from $374.00 to $392.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America raised their target price on Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Eaton from $365.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Eaton in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $431.00 price target for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $369.28.

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.