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

Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $176.21.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $159.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Tuesday. DZ Bank raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $182.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $171.28 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $171.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.11. Procter & Gamble has a 1-year low of $142.50 and a 1-year high of $177.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $404.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.45, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.41.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.71% and a return on equity of 33.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Procter & Gamble will post 6.97 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 66.94%.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In related news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 3,373 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $573,410.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 21,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,657,210. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 8,842 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.90, for a total transaction of $1,458,045.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,902,451.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 3,373 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $573,410.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 21,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,657,210. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 383,194 shares of company stock valued at $65,140,718. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 64.7% during the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. The company 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, SK-II, and Native brands.