Simmons Bank Trims Stake in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Simmons Bank lessened its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,119 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 478 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Eaton were worth $1,955,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eaton in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eaton in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Eaton during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eaton news, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $171,360. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,593,380.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the insider now owns 630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $171,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 38,969 shares of company stock valued at $10,904,774. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ETN. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Eaton from $279.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $355.00 target price (up previously from $340.00) on shares of Eaton in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays raised Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.27.

Eaton Stock Performance

Eaton stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $327.30. The company had a trading volume of 1,792,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,025,208. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $310.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $264.55. Eaton Co. plc has a 52 week low of $165.24 and a 52 week high of $333.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.06.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.12. Eaton had a return on equity of 20.69% and a net margin of 14.38%. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Eaton’s payout ratio is 44.39%.

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.