Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $95.8750.

CL has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Evercore boosted their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 29th.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE CL opened at $90.16 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.33. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $74.54 and a 52 week high of $99.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.34 billion, a PE ratio of 35.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $86.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.41.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.03. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 10.04% and a return on equity of 386.76%. The company had revenue of $5.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 20th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 20th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is presently 82.49%.

Institutional Trading of Colgate-Palmolive

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,947,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,633,570,000 after buying an additional 1,026,985 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,103,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,754,657,000 after buying an additional 304,426 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,246,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,520,836,000 after buying an additional 323,367 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 172.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,521,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,067,211,000 after buying an additional 7,927,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $861,670,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

About Colgate-Palmolive

Colgate-Palmolive Company is a global consumer products company with a long history in household and personal care categories. The business traces its roots to the early 19th century and has evolved into a multinational manufacturer and marketer of everyday consumer goods focused on health, hygiene and home care.

The company’s core activities center on oral care, personal care, home care and pet nutrition. Its product portfolio includes toothpaste, toothbrushes and mouthwash in oral care; soaps, body washes and deodorants in personal care; dishwashing liquids, surface cleaners and other household products in home care; and scientifically formulated pet foods under its pet nutrition business.