CWA Asset Management Group LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC cut its stake in Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) by 80.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,473 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,369 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $607,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,303,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,391,261,000 after purchasing an additional 588,230 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,518,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,868,723,000 after buying an additional 324,683 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth about $912,375,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,497,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $863,447,000 after buying an additional 993,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 9,200,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $806,015,000 after buying an additional 1,040,604 shares during the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

CL opened at $87.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $71.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.82, a P/E/G ratio of 4.68 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.96, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.80. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a 1-year low of $85.32 and a 1-year high of $109.30.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.05. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 461.04% and a net margin of 14.52%. The business had revenue of $4.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is currently 58.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays cut their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen cut Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.12.

About Colgate-Palmolive

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.