Eaton’s (ETN) Hold Rating Reaffirmed at Melius Research

Eaton (NYSE:ETN)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by equities researchers at Melius Research in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $373.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock. Melius Research’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 22.62% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Eaton in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $431.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered shares of Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $333.00 to $389.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eaton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $369.30.

Eaton Price Performance

ETN stock traded down $7.35 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $304.20. The stock had a trading volume of 5,408,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,163,719. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Eaton has a twelve month low of $244.35 and a twelve month high of $379.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.36, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $353.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $331.34.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.04. Eaton had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.47 EPS. Eaton’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Eaton will post 10.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other Eaton news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $17,241,796.60. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.58, for a total transaction of $534,554.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 31,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,811,696. This trade represents a 4.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 76,981 shares of company stock valued at $27,660,117 over the last quarter. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eaton

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ETN. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eaton during the second quarter worth $2,383,000. Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Eaton by 7.2% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Eaton by 5.8% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 61,374 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $19,244,000 after acquiring an additional 3,361 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Eaton by 6.0% in the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,347 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $736,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in Eaton in the second quarter valued at $84,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

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.