Haleon (NYSE:HLN) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Haleon PLC Sponsored ADR (NYSE:HLN) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after Barclays downgraded the stock from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating. The stock had previously closed at $9.68, but opened at $9.35. Haleon shares last traded at $9.41, with a volume of 1,481,405 shares changing hands.

HLN has been the subject of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Haleon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Haleon from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. BNP Paribas raised Haleon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised Haleon from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $13.40 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.33.

Institutional Trading of Haleon

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Haleon by 6.1% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 30,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 1,749 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Haleon by 11.2% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 25,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 2,564 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Haleon by 32.9% during the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,000 after buying an additional 4,055 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Haleon by 60.7% in the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 9,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 3,413 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Haleon by 264.6% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 69,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $714,000 after acquiring an additional 50,328 shares during the period. 6.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Haleon Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $9.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.19. The company has a market cap of $41.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Haleon Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.0555 per share. This is a positive change from Haleon’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a yield of 190.0%. Haleon’s payout ratio is currently 28.21%.

About Haleon

Haleon plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of various consumer healthcare products in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides oral health products, such as toothpastes, mouth washes, and denture care products under the Sensodyne, Polident, Parodontax, Biotene brands; and vitamins, minerals, and supplements under Centrum, Emergen-C, Caltrate brands.