The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $169.76.

Several research firms recently commented on PG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Truist Financial raised Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

NYSE:PG opened at $161.24 on Friday. Procter & Gamble has a one year low of $141.45 and a one year high of $164.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $380.55 billion, a PE ratio of 26.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $159.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.51.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The firm had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Procter & Gamble will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 65.85%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total value of $4,581,309.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,265.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total transaction of $135,517.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $634,634. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total value of $4,581,309.81. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,265.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 100,865 shares of company stock worth $16,029,280. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PG. KFG Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $991,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV now owns 2,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 62,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,130,000 after acquiring an additional 10,719 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 241,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,233,000 after acquiring an additional 929 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 56,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,210,000 after acquiring an additional 742 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, and SK-II brands.