Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Earns "Buy" Rating from Mizuho

Mizuho reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Eaton (NYSE:ETN - Free Report) in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Mizuho currently has a $355.00 target price on the industrial products company's stock, up from their previous target price of $340.00.

ETN has been the topic of several other research reports. Wolfe Research reissued an underperform rating and set a $312.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Barclays raised Eaton from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and lifted their target price for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Eaton from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $302.93.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ETN traded down $6.23 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $312.03. The company had a trading volume of 3,416,668 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,028,208. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $307.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $260.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.51. Eaton has a 12 month low of $165.24 and a 12 month high of $333.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.07.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 13.88%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Eaton will post 10.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. Eaton's payout ratio is currently 46.88%.

Insider Activity at Eaton

In related news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total transaction of $1,213,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $171,360. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Eaton news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total transaction of $3,796,067.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 69,472 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,244,140.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total value of $1,213,392.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 630 shares of the company's stock, valued at $171,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,969 shares of company stock worth $10,904,774 in the last quarter. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eaton

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ETN. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Eaton by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 5,724 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,379,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Pinnbrook Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter worth about $15,109,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Eaton by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 34,071 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $8,205,000 after buying an additional 7,964 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton in the fourth quarter worth about $2,958,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton in the third quarter worth about $479,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.