Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN)

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its stake in Eaton Corporation by 16.5% after selling 19,171 shares, leaving them with 97,253 shares valued at approximately $26.4 million.
• Eaton announced a quarterly dividend of $1.04 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.2% and a payout ratio of 41.98%.
• Insider Craig Arnold sold 103,486 shares at an average price of $322.75, reducing his ownership by 17.43% and maintaining a significant stake valued at over $158 million.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Eaton Corporation, PLC (NYSE:ETN - Free Report) by 16.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,253 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 19,171 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.'s holdings in Eaton were worth $26,436,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Eaton by 27,281.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,593,321 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $976,772,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580,198 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors purchased a new position in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $523,541,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Eaton during the fourth quarter worth $231,552,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Eaton by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,007,570 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $998,144,000 after buying an additional 588,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Eaton during the 4th quarter valued at $145,077,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company's stock.

Eaton Price Performance

NYSE:ETN traded up $2.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $363.07. The stock had a trading volume of 2,139,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,661,468. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $354.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $318.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.24. Eaton Corporation, PLC has a one year low of $231.85 and a one year high of $399.56.

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

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.04 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Eaton's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eaton news, insider Craig Arnold sold 103,486 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.75, for a total value of $33,400,106.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 490,208 shares of the company's stock, valued at $158,214,632. The trade was a 17.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on ETN. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Eaton from $336.00 to $356.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Eaton from $355.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Eaton in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and set a $396.00 price target on shares of Eaton in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Eaton from $340.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $383.63.

Eaton 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.