Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Grows Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 41.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,693 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Eaton were worth $408,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ETN. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in shares of Eaton during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Eaton in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Eaton in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Eaton in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Eaton in the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eaton Price Performance

ETN stock traded up $5.95 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $318.79. 3,336,532 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,943,611. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $302.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $256.66. Eaton Co. plc has a 52 week low of $161.12 and a 52 week high of $331.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.07. 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 (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.08. Eaton had a net margin of 13.88% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company had revenue of $5.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 29,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,116,427.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Eaton news, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total value of $500,207.07. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,593,380.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $5,395,107.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,712 shares in the company, valued at $8,116,427.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,969 shares of company stock valued at $10,904,774 in the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on ETN shares. Bank of America raised their price target on Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays upgraded Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $295.60.

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.