Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Trading Down 3.1% – Should You Sell?

Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) traded down 3.1% on Monday . The company traded as low as $359.41 and last traded at $359.67. 470,379 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 2,080,750 shares. The stock had previously closed at $371.22.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on ETN shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Eaton from $315.00 to $342.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Eaton from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America boosted their price target on Eaton from $350.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $333.00 to $389.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $367.83.

Eaton Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $144.38 billion, a PE ratio of 38.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $352.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $325.81. 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 (NYSE:ETN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.47 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict 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 paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Eaton’s payout ratio is 40.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Craig Arnold sold 61,569 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.97, for a total value of $22,224,561.93. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 506,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,780,769.20. This represents a 10.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 31,200 shares in the company, valued at $11,811,696. This represents a 4.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,981 shares of company stock valued at $24,100,317 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eaton

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Breakwater Investment Management grew its holdings in shares of Eaton by 1,560.0% during the second quarter. Breakwater Investment Management now owns 83 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in shares of Eaton by 83.2% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 4,298 shares during the last quarter. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Eaton in the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Eaton in the third quarter valued at $33,000. 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.