The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $175.79.

A number of research firms have weighed in on PG. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $189.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $187.00 target price for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

NYSE:PG opened at $170.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $167.37 and its 200-day moving average is $163.89. Procter & Gamble has a 52-week low of $141.45 and a 52-week high of $171.89. The company has a market cap of $401.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.46% and a net margin of 17.71%. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Procter & Gamble will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th were given a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 65.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 72,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.01, for a total value of $12,342,475.74. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,002,649.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 72,174 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.01, for a total transaction of $12,342,475.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,002,649.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jon R. Moeller sold 37,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.89, for a total value of $6,289,463.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 263,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,508,763.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 375,553 shares of company stock worth $63,829,141. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PG. RiverFront Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 26,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,351,000 after purchasing an additional 698 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,470,000. Souders Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.4% in the second quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 135,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,873 shares in the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 3.0% during the second quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 38,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KPP Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,762,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, and SK-II brands.