LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN)

Key Points

• LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Eaton Corporation, investing approximately $395,000 during the first quarter, representing an acquisition of 1,455 shares.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 82.97% of Eaton’s stock, highlighting significant institutional interest in the company.
• Eaton recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.04 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.1% and a payout ratio of 41.85%.

LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,455 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $395,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Eaton by 27,281.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,593,321 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $976,772,000 after buying an additional 3,580,198 shares during the period. Capital International Investors purchased a new position in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $523,541,000. Fayez Sarofim & Co boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 606.3% in the first quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 1,025,903 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $282,262,000 after purchasing an additional 880,656 shares during the period. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $231,552,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,007,570 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $998,144,000 after purchasing an additional 588,370 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Eaton from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Eaton from $355.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Eaton in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Eaton from $345.00 to $382.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $383.63.

Eaton Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:ETN traded down $2.65 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $360.19. The company had a trading volume of 2,849,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,683,531. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.24. Eaton Corporation, PLC has a 1-year low of $231.85 and a 1-year high of $399.56. The firm has a market cap of $140.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $354.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $317.65.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.03. Eaton had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 15.11%. The business had revenue of $7.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.73 EPS. Eaton's revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Eaton Corporation, PLC will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Eaton's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 16,018 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.39, for a total transaction of $5,740,691.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 630 shares of the company's stock, valued at $225,785.70. This trade represents a 96.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Eaton Company Profile

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.