Eaton Co. plc (ETN) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 10th

Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 27th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of 1.04 per share by the industrial products company on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94.

Eaton has a dividend payout ratio of 31.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Eaton to earn $13.52 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.76 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.8%.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of ETN opened at $293.21 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $326.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $332.29. Eaton has a 12-month low of $255.65 and a 12-month high of $379.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.88 billion, a PE ratio of 30.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm earned $2.55 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Eaton will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.98, for a total value of $3,559,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 43,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,379,403.94. This trade represents a 18.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ETN. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Melius cut 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. Citigroup lowered their target price on Eaton from $440.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.05.

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.