Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) to Issue $0.94 Quarterly Dividend

Eaton Co. plc (NYSE:ETN) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 23rd, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of 0.94 per share by the industrial products company on Friday, May 24th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd.

Eaton has raised its dividend by an average of 5.6% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 15 consecutive years. Eaton has a dividend payout ratio of 32.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Eaton to earn $11.62 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.76 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.4%.

Eaton Stock Performance

Shares of Eaton stock opened at $312.03 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $307.35 and its 200 day moving average is $260.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market cap of $124.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.06. Eaton has a twelve month low of $165.24 and a twelve month high of $333.05.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.91 billion. Eaton had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 20.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Eaton will post 10.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eaton news, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total transaction of $500,207.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,593,380.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Heath B. Monesmith sold 13,027 shares of Eaton stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.40, for a total transaction of $3,796,067.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 69,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,244,140.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Peter Denk sold 1,731 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.97, for a total value of $500,207.07. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,969 shares of company stock valued at $10,904,774. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ETN shares. Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and set a $355.00 price objective (up from $340.00) on shares of Eaton in a research note on Wednesday. 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. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Eaton from $255.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays raised Eaton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Eaton from $287.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One 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, Eaton currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $302.93.

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.