Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Price Target Increased to $100.00 by Analysts at Citigroup

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) had its price objective increased by Citigroup from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on CL. 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 research report on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $91.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, January 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $89.50.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

CL opened at $86.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $70.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.42. Colgate-Palmolive has a fifty-two week low of $67.62 and a fifty-two week high of $90.37. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $86.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Colgate-Palmolive’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. 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. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is 69.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Colgate-Palmolive

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 61,633 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.93, for a total transaction of $5,172,857.69. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,863,575.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Colgate-Palmolive news, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 61,633 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.93, for a total transaction of $5,172,857.69. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,863,575.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 50,000 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.15, for a total transaction of $4,157,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 274,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,797,983.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 232,371 shares of company stock valued at $19,505,099 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Colgate-Palmolive

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Regal Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. M&G Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. M&G Investment Management Ltd. now owns 49,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,942,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 3,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. &PARTNERS lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 17,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,406,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 30,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,410,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

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.