Axa S.A. Reduces Stake in Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC)

Axa S.A. reduced its holdings in Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) by 0.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 180,275 shares of the company’s stock after selling 339 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A. owned about 0.36% of Edgewell Personal Care worth $7,245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EPC. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Edgewell Personal Care in the fourth quarter valued at $2,762,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 4.0% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 397,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,342,000 after buying an additional 15,131 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Edgewell Personal Care by 0.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,620,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,524,000 after buying an additional 24,513 shares during the period. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Edgewell Personal Care during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,609,000. 91.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on EPC. 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Edgewell Personal Care from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.80.

Edgewell Personal Care Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EPC opened at $36.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion, a PE ratio of 15.26 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $38.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.44. Edgewell Personal Care Co has a 1-year low of $33.71 and a 1-year high of $41.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $647.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $649.67 million. Edgewell Personal Care had a net margin of 5.26% and a return on equity of 9.92%. The business’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Edgewell Personal Care Co will post 3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Edgewell Personal Care Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. Edgewell Personal Care’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.10%.

Edgewell Personal Care Profile

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.