ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Has $418,000 Stock Position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. cut its position in Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 28.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,734 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 692 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Eaton were worth $418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ETN. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in shares of Eaton during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Eaton in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new position in Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Eaton during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Eaton during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $171,360. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Eaton news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total value of $3,796,067.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 69,472 shares in the company, valued at $20,244,140.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Olivier Leonetti sold 4,461 shares of the 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 owns 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $171,360. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,969 shares of company stock worth $10,904,774 in the last 90 days. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Eaton Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ETN traded down $5.92 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $303.02. 3,084,670 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,164,310. Eaton Co. plc has a 12-month low of $161.12 and a 12-month high of $331.47. The company has a market cap of $121.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.81, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $300.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $254.56.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.06 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. This is a positive change from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. Eaton’s payout ratio is presently 46.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ETN. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Eaton from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Berenberg Bank boosted their price target on shares of Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Eaton from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.