Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.12 EPS

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The industrial products company reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.12, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 13.88% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS.

Eaton Stock Down 1.8 %

NYSE:ETN traded down $5.74 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $312.52. The stock had a trading volume of 1,612,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,003,371. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Eaton has a 1-year low of $165.24 and a 1-year high of $333.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $306.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $260.44. The company has a market cap of $124.85 billion, a PE ratio of 39.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.07.

Eaton Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ETN shares. Barclays upgraded shares of Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 price objective (up previously from $340.00) on shares of Eaton in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $302.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In other Eaton news, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total value of $500,207.07. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,593,380.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total transaction of $500,207.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,593,380.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total value of $5,395,107.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,116,427.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,969 shares of company stock valued at $10,904,774 over the last 90 days. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.