Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $44.29.

EPC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Edgewell Personal Care from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 7th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Edgewell Personal Care in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Edgewell Personal Care

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care in the 4th quarter worth approximately $215,269,000. Credit Agricole S A acquired a new position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care in the 2nd quarter valued at $82,300,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 1,134.8% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 529,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,890,000 after purchasing an additional 486,988 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Edgewell Personal Care by 1,821.5% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 397,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,404,000 after purchasing an additional 376,432 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in Edgewell Personal Care by 70.2% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 802,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,698,000 after purchasing an additional 331,059 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.91% of the company’s stock.

Edgewell Personal Care Price Performance

Shares of EPC stock opened at $38.85 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $38.62 and its 200 day moving average is $41.05. Edgewell Personal Care has a 1-year low of $36.17 and a 1-year high of $46.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $1.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.27 and a beta of 0.94.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $650.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $642.45 million. Edgewell Personal Care had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 9.15%. Edgewell Personal Care’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. Research analysts predict that Edgewell Personal Care will post 2.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Edgewell Personal Care Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 6th. Edgewell Personal Care’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.67%.

Edgewell Personal Care Company Profile

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.