Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $42.40.

Several analysts recently weighed in on EPC shares. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of Edgewell Personal Care from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Edgewell Personal Care from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Edgewell Personal Care from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th.

Edgewell Personal Care Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE EPC opened at $35.14 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.90. Edgewell Personal Care has a twelve month low of $33.27 and a twelve month high of $41.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.93 and a beta of 0.86.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.05. Edgewell Personal Care had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 9.78%. The business had revenue of $517.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $535.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Edgewell Personal Care will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Edgewell Personal Care Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Edgewell Personal Care’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Edgewell Personal Care

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care in the 3rd quarter worth about $6,128,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Edgewell Personal Care by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,620,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,524,000 after purchasing an additional 24,513 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Edgewell Personal Care by 4.0% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 397,040 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,342,000 after buying an additional 15,131 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 91.5% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 27,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,050,000 after buying an additional 12,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chartwell Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 54.3% during the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 211,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,670,000 after buying an additional 74,315 shares during the last quarter. 91.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Edgewell Personal Care

Edgewell Personal Care Company is a manufacturer and marketer of personal care products in the wet shave, sun and skin care, feminine care and infant care categories. As of September 30, 2016, the Company had a portfolio of over 25 brands. It manages its business in four segments: Wet Shave, Sun and Skin Care, Feminine Care and All Other.