Eaton Pays About 54% Of Its Profit As Dividend

Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN) said that its board has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.57 per ordinary share. For the full year, this translated into $2.28 a share. That means the company has been paying about 564.0 percent of its profit as dividend, which is modestly higher than the average 51.0 percent ratio in the five-year period.Easton said that the dividend would be payable August 19, 2016 to its shareholders of record, whose name appears at the close of business on August 5.For purposes of tax purposes, the company estimated that all the current year's dividend would be treated as a return of capital to shareholders, to the extent of the shareholder's tax basis in the shares. The company clarified that more information about the tax treatment of the dividend would be available at the investor relations page of the Eaton website.The energy firm has been paying its dividends on its shares by every year since 1923. The dividend offered 3.6 percent yield, which was better than the 3.30 percent yield recorded in the five-year period. ETN shares are trading 1.16 percent higher on Tuesday,