Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) Short Interest Up 8.4% in December

Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,200,000 shares, an increase of 8.4% from the November 30th total of 2,030,000 shares. Currently, 4.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 419,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.2 days.

Edgewell Personal Care Trading Up 0.3 %

EPC stock opened at $33.60 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.17. Edgewell Personal Care has a 52 week low of $33.18 and a 52 week high of $41.50.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $517.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $535.23 million. Edgewell Personal Care had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 4.38%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Edgewell Personal Care will post 3.21 EPS for the current year.

Edgewell Personal Care Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Edgewell Personal Care’s payout ratio is currently 30.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EPC shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Edgewell Personal Care from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Edgewell Personal Care from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Edgewell Personal Care from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.40.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Edgewell Personal Care

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EPC. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care during the second quarter worth $33,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Edgewell Personal Care in the 3rd quarter worth $48,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Edgewell Personal Care in the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Edgewell Personal Care during the second quarter valued at about $84,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 33.1% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,000 after acquiring an additional 693 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.91% of the company’s stock.

About Edgewell Personal Care

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.