Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other research firms have also commented on ETN. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Eaton from $390.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Melius Research reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $373.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Melius lowered Eaton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $373.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.68.

Eaton Trading Up 0.1 %

Eaton stock traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $295.88. The stock had a trading volume of 3,188,236 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,403,404. Eaton has a one year low of $255.65 and a one year 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 stock has a market cap of $115.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $311.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $331.08.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 period last year, the company earned $2.55 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Eaton will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Eaton by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,217,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,351,506,000 after buying an additional 99,291 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Eaton by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,222,248 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,051,807,000 after buying an additional 182,455 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 129,071 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Eaton by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 4,671,185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,550,226,000 after buying an additional 192,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Eaton by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,574,704 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,518,207,000 after buying an additional 368,241 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

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.