Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Stock Price Down 0.3% – Should You Sell?

Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) shares dropped 0.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $370.24 and last traded at $371.01. Approximately 268,361 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 2,090,781 shares. The stock had previously closed at $372.22.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on ETN shares. Mizuho boosted their price target on Eaton from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI cut shares of Eaton from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and raised their target price for the company from $333.00 to $389.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $327.00 to $320.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Eaton in a report on Friday, September 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $370.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James lowered their target price on Eaton from $375.00 to $365.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.83.

Eaton Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $147.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $348.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $324.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.80 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 21.97%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.47 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.8 EPS for the current year.

Eaton Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In related news, Director Gregory R. Page sold 4,000 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.30, for a total value of $1,341,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 51,422 shares in the company, valued at $17,241,796.60. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 1,412 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.58, for a total transaction of $534,554.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 31,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,811,696. The trade was a 4.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,981 shares of company stock valued at $24,100,317 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Breakwater Investment Management lifted its position in shares of Eaton by 1,560.0% during the second quarter. Breakwater Investment Management now owns 83 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eaton during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in Eaton by 83.2% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 9,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 4,298 shares during the last quarter. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Eaton in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Eaton in the third quarter worth $33,000. 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.