Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 412,030 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,520 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $136,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Eaton by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,217,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,351,506,000 after acquiring an additional 99,291 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Eaton by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,198,412 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,714,677,000 after purchasing an additional 129,071 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Eaton in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,495,582,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Eaton by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,744,691 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $910,881,000 after buying an additional 323,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eaton by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,255,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $748,555,000 after buying an additional 37,138 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Eaton from $315.00 to $306.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Melius lowered shares of Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $356.68.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ETN opened at $246.36 on Friday. Eaton Co. plc has a 52-week low of $236.58 and a 52-week high of $379.99. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $296.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $330.00. The company has a market cap of $96.52 billion, a PE ratio of 25.93, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.01. Eaton had a return on equity of 22.62% and a net margin of 15.25%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.55 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.79%.

Eaton Company Profile

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.