Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 579 Shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Eaton were worth $12,028,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in Eaton in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Eaton during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Eaton during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Eaton in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Eaton in the third quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Eaton Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE ETN traded up $4.61 on Tuesday, reaching $312.70. 1,233,589 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,904,975. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $301.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $255.94. Eaton Co. plc has a 12 month low of $161.12 and a 12 month high of $331.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $124.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.07.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.08. Eaton had a net margin of 13.88% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The firm had revenue of $5.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Eaton Co. plc will post 10.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eaton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This is a boost from Eaton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Eaton’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ETN. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Eaton from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Eaton from $262.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Eaton from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $312.00 target price on shares of Eaton in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upped their price target on shares of Eaton from $200.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. One investment 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.60.

Insider Transactions at Eaton

In other news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $5,395,107.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,116,427.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Ernest W. Marshall, Jr. sold 19,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.17, for a total transaction of $5,395,107.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,116,427.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the insider now owns 5,514 shares in the company, valued at $1,593,380.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,969 shares of company stock worth $10,904,774 in the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.