Eaton Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:ETN)

Key Points

• Unusually large options activity: Traders bought 30,341 call options on Eaton on Friday, about a 330% increase versus the average call volume of 7,048.
• Insider sale: Sternadt Paulo Ruiz sold 10,707 shares at an average $390.26 (≈$4.18M), cutting his stake by 27.86% to 27,729 shares.
• Dividend increase: Eaton raised its quarterly dividend to $1.10 (from $1.04), annualized at $4.40 with an ex-dividend date of March 10 and a yield around 1.3%.

Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 30,341 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 330% compared to the average volume of 7,048 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other Eaton news, insider Sternadt Paulo Ruiz sold 10,707 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.26, for a total value of $4,178,513.82. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,729 shares in the company, valued at $10,821,519.54. The trade was a 27.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETN. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Eaton by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,341 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,109,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 913 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Eaton by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,402 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,556,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Eaton by 12.5% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 183,204 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $65,402,000 after purchasing an additional 20,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Eaton by 4.3% in the second quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC now owns 4,773 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,704,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on ETN shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Eaton in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $407.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Eaton from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $413.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $360.00 target price (down from $440.00) on shares of Eaton in a research report on Sunday, January 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Eaton in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Eaton has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $392.94.

Eaton Stock Down 0.0%

ETN stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $348.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 939,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,967,513. Eaton has a 52-week low of $231.85 and a 52-week high of $408.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $355.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $355.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.30, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.17.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The industrial products company reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Eaton had a return on equity of 25.00% and a net margin of 14.89%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Eaton will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This is a boost from Eaton's previous quarterly dividend of $1.04. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. Eaton's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.07%.

About Eaton

Eaton NYSE: ETN is a diversified power management company that designs, manufactures and distributes products and systems to manage electrical, hydraulic and mechanical power. The company's offerings are used to improve energy efficiency, reliability and safety across a wide range of applications, with core capabilities in electrical distribution and control, industrial hydraulics and aerospace systems.

Its product portfolio includes switchgear, circuit breakers, transformers, power distribution units, uninterruptible power supplies and surge protection devices for electrical infrastructure, along with hydraulic pumps, valves and filtration systems for industrial and mobile equipment.

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