Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Cuts Holdings in Colgate-Palmolive Company $CL

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its position in Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) by 7.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,369 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,450 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $1,579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,751,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,522,129,000 after buying an additional 993,432 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 18.3% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 5,269,140 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 34.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,980,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $747,762,000 after purchasing an additional 2,045,191 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,176,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $672,447,000 after buying an additional 253,604 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,976,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $653,761,000 after buying an additional 177,833 shares in the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock opened at $80.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.79. The company has a market cap of $65.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.74, a PEG ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $78.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.80. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a 52-week low of $74.54 and a 52-week high of $100.18.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $5.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.17 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.55% and a return on equity of 377.63%. Colgate-Palmolive’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 17th. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is 58.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $106.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Bank of America lowered their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $98.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $86.00 price objective on Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.87.

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.