StockNews.com Upgrades Prestige Consumer Healthcare (NYSE:PBH) to Buy

Prestige Consumer Healthcare (NYSE:PBH) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Prestige Consumer Healthcare in a report on Monday, November 11th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Prestige Consumer Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Sidoti cut Prestige Consumer Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Prestige Consumer Healthcare has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.25.

Prestige Consumer Healthcare Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of PBH opened at $78.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 3.56. Prestige Consumer Healthcare has a 52-week low of $57.95 and a 52-week high of $86.36. The firm has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.14, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s fifty day moving average is $79.07 and its 200-day moving average is $72.94.

Prestige Consumer Healthcare (NYSE:PBH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.09. The company had revenue of $283.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $282.09 million. Prestige Consumer Healthcare had a net margin of 18.54% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.07 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Prestige Consumer Healthcare will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ronald M. Lombardi sold 10,875 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.60, for a total transaction of $898,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 320,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,510,635.20. This represents a 3.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Mary Beth Fritz sold 9,885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.97, for a total value of $810,273.45. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 18,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,543,904.95. This trade represents a 34.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 38,810 shares of company stock valued at $3,187,300. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prestige Consumer Healthcare

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PBH. Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its stake in Prestige Consumer Healthcare by 0.4% in the third quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 36,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,666,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Prestige Consumer Healthcare by 4.8% in the third quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 3,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Prestige Consumer Healthcare by 5.4% during the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its position in Prestige Consumer Healthcare by 2.2% in the second quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 7,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $534,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN raised its stake in shares of Prestige Consumer Healthcare by 4.4% in the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 3,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. 99.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Prestige Consumer Healthcare

Prestige Consumer Healthcare Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells over-the-counter (OTC) health and personal care products in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, North American OTC Healthcare and International OTC Healthcare.