ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC Grows Stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Eaton were worth $473,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ETN. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN raised its holdings in Eaton by 321.7% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 97 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Eaton during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Eaton in the third quarter worth about $35,000. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Eaton in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Eaton during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ETN opened at $342.35 on Thursday. 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 Co. plc has a 1 year low of $236.04 and a 1 year high of $379.99. The company has a market cap of $135.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.42, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $355.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $329.33.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.04. Eaton had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 21.97%. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.47 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other Eaton news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 31,200 shares in the company, valued at $11,811,696. The trade was a 4.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction 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. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. 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. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on ETN. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Eaton in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $382.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Eaton from $365.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Eaton has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.89.

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.