Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $92.2143.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $86.00 price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Friday. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $98.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $99.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $87.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Colgate-Palmolive

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the 2nd quarter valued at $960,390,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 18.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,009,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,186,651,000 after buying an additional 5,269,140 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 242.3% in the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 5,324,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $483,962,000 after buying an additional 3,768,784 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the 1st quarter valued at $217,593,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 34.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,980,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $747,762,000 after buying an additional 2,045,191 shares during the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE CL opened at $76.99 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $82.44 and its 200-day moving average is $87.73. The stock has a market cap of $62.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.34. Colgate-Palmolive has a twelve month low of $76.68 and a twelve month high of $102.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.79.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.03 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.55% and a return on equity of 377.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.43%.

Colgate-Palmolive Company Profile

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.