Associated Banc Corp Sells 7,987 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Associated Banc Corp lessened its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,374 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,987 shares during the period. Eaton accounts for 1.1% of Associated Banc Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Associated Banc Corp’s holdings in Eaton were worth $34,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ETN. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Eaton by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Westmount Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $327,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 896 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH increased its holdings in shares of Eaton by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 1,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $544,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ETN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Melius Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $373.00 price objective on shares of Eaton in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Eaton from $405.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Eaton from $382.00 to $326.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp raised shares of Eaton from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $340.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Eaton from $350.00 to $348.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $356.20.

Eaton Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of Eaton stock opened at $294.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a 50-day moving average of $316.31 and a 200 day moving average of $331.29. The firm has a market cap of $115.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.00, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. Eaton Co. plc has a 1 year low of $255.65 and a 1 year high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.01. Eaton had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 22.62%. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 12.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.79%.

Eaton Company 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.