Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Lowered to Hold Rating by Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank cut shares of Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on PG. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $156.00 to $179.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 8th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold 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 $168.33.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of PG stock opened at $143.06 on Tuesday. Procter & Gamble has a twelve month low of $137.62 and a twelve month high of $174.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $154.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $150.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $332.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.37.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 32.21% and a net margin of 19.30%.The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Procter & Gamble will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 23rd were given a $1.0568 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 23rd. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 62.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 15,169 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.28, for a total transaction of $2,461,625.32. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 44,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,259,595.80. This represents a 25.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Marc S. Pritchard sold 95,903 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.15, for a total value of $14,495,738.45. Following the sale, the insider owned 182,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,601,048.05. This represents a 34.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 348,618 shares of company stock worth $55,462,643 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PG. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 40,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,717,000 after acquiring an additional 13,617 shares in the last quarter. Taylor Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Procter & Gamble by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Taylor Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 19.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $979,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016 shares during the last quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 7,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.8% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 30,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,809,000 after buying an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) is a multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble, P&G has grown into one of the world’s largest producers of branded consumer packaged goods. The company focuses on developing, manufacturing and marketing a broad portfolio of household and personal care products sold to consumers and retailers worldwide.

P&G’s product offering spans several core business categories, including Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric & Home Care, and Baby, Feminine & Family Care.