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

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $88.44.

Several brokerages have issued reports on CL. StockNews.com lowered shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Raymond James raised shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $93.00 target price on the stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock opened at $85.96 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.66 billion, a PE ratio of 30.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $86.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.15. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52-week low of $67.62 and a 52-week high of $90.37.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.89 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 11.82% and a return on equity of 509.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Colgate-Palmolive

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, EVP Gregory Malcolm sold 8,930 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.35, for a total transaction of $762,175.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $686,470.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 3,538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.67, for a total value of $299,562.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,054,629.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gregory Malcolm sold 8,930 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.35, for a total value of $762,175.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $686,470.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 232,371 shares of company stock worth $19,505,099. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Colgate-Palmolive

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 25.1% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 370,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,498,000 after purchasing an additional 74,337 shares in the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 22.1% during the 4th quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $864,000 after acquiring an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 4,053,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $323,115,000 after acquiring an additional 49,980 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.