Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CL. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group cut their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $121.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.72.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

CL opened at $89.52 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $89.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1 year low of $85.32 and a 1 year high of $109.30. The stock has a market cap of $72.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.43, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.01. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is 56.82%.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 20th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Colgate-Palmolive

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $912,375,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $348,718,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,749,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $700,642,000 after buying an additional 2,674,807 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 1,088.8% in the fourth quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,569,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,584,000 after acquiring an additional 2,353,268 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,644,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $793,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,132,747 shares in the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Colgate-Palmolive Company Profile

Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells consumer products in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: Oral, Personal and Home Care; and Pet Nutrition. The Oral, Personal and Home Care segment offers toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, bar and liquid hand soaps, shower gels, shampoos, conditioners, deodorants and antiperspirants, skin health products, dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, and other related items.