Raymond James Turns Bullish on Procter & Gamble Stock

Raymond James initiated coverage on Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE:PG) with an "outperform" rating, and a $175 price target. The analyst in coverage noted the company's strategy and portfolio changes have driven top- and bottom- line growth, and that PG can still beat expectations despite recent inflation pressures. The consumer goods giant is up 0.2% to trade at $159.23. 

The brokerage bunch was split toward Procter & Gamble stock coming into today, with six of the 11 analysts in question sporting a "buy" or better rating, while the remaining five said "hold." Plus, the 12-month consensus target price of $165.21 is a slim 3.1% premium to current levels.

Digging deeper, the security has been tearing up the charts since bouncing off the $43 in early March. Now pacing for its fourth-straight daily win, the shares are growing closer to their Jan. 21, all-time high of $165.31, with newfound support from the 20-day moving average. Year-over-year, PG sports a 16.5% lead.

The options pits are overwhelmingly optimistic towards the equity. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), PG's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 3.15 sits higher than 86% of readings from the past year. This suggests calls have been getting picked up at a much quicker-than-usual pace in the last two weeks.