Haleon (NYSE:HLN) Stock Price Up 3.7% After Dividend Announcement

Haleon plc (NYSE:HLN) rose 3.7% on Monday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $10.64 and last traded at $10.56. Approximately 5,868,120 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 9% from the average daily volume of 6,443,225 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.18.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be given a dividend of $0.1166 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.6%. This is a positive change from Haleon’s previous — dividend of $0.05. Haleon’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HLN. Morgan Stanley downgraded Haleon from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Haleon from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Haleon presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.95.

Haleon Stock Up 0.9 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $9.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.84. The company has a market capitalization of $48.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.28.

Haleon (NYSE:HLN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $3.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.38 billion. Haleon had a net margin of 10.85% and a return on equity of 14.76%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Haleon plc will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Haleon

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Haleon during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Haleon by 2,029.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 3,348 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Haleon during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in Haleon by 3,470.0% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 3,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 3,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in Haleon during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors own 6.67% of the company’s stock.

About Haleon

Haleon plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of various consumer healthcare products in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides oral health products, such as toothpastes, mouth washes, and denture care products under the Sensodyne, Polident, Parodontax, Biotene brands; and vitamins, minerals, and supplements under Centrum, Emergen-C, Caltrate brands.