California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 689,260 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 47,045 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Eaton were worth $228,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Eaton by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,217,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,351,506,000 after acquiring an additional 99,291 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Eaton by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,069,341 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,665,342,000 after purchasing an additional 56,516 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Eaton during the 4th quarter valued at $1,495,582,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Eaton by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,421,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $836,938,000 after buying an additional 316,830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Eaton by 32.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,419,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $801,798,000 after acquiring an additional 597,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Stock Down 2.4 %

NYSE ETN opened at $274.05 on Monday. Eaton Co. plc has a 52 week low of $255.65 and a 52 week high of $379.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.85, a PEG 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. The company has a fifty day moving average of $305.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $331.66.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 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 prior year, the business posted $2.55 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Eaton’s payout ratio is presently 43.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on ETN shares. Citigroup cut their target price on Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Melius Research reissued a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price objective on shares of Eaton in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eaton has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.16.

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.