The Dividend Daily

Electrical and hydraulic parts maker Eaton Corporation (ETN) released its fourth quarter earnings report on Tuesday, seeing a steep drop in profits caused by an uneasy global economy and the recent acquisition of Cooper Industries.

The Cleveland, Ohio-based company reported a profit of $179 million, or 46 cents per share, down 51% from $362 million, or $1.07 a share, earned a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, such as the integration and acquisition costs of Cooper Industries, adjusted EPS fell to 82 cents from $1.08.

Sales were up, however, coming in at $4.33 billion, up 7.4% from the previous year.

Analysts, on average, were expecting the company to post much higher earnings of 93 cents per share on revenue of $4.36 billion.

Looking ahead to the full year, Eaton is expected EPS to be in a range of $4.05 and $4.45, while analysts project an EPS of $4.42. The company says that it may benefit going forward from a boost in demand for electrical equipment following the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in the New York and New Jersey areas.

Eaton shares were down $1.06, or -1.87%, during pre-market trading on Tuesday.

The Bottom Line
Shares of ETN currently offer a 2.69% dividend yield based on last night’s closing price of $56.58 and the company’s annualized dividend payout of $1.52 per share.

Eaton Corporation (ETN) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars.

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