Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Acquires 3,979 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 15.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,029 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,979 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.'s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $2,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CL. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,922,994 shares of the company's stock worth $629,369,000 after purchasing an additional 1,816,865 shares during the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 39.9% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 6,318 shares of the company's stock valued at $574,000 after buying an additional 1,802 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 15,232 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,385,000 after buying an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Crestline Management LP acquired a new position in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter worth $6,292,000. Finally, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC raised its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 699,000 shares of the company's stock worth $63,546,000 after acquiring an additional 74,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company's stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

CL traded down $1.26 on Tuesday, hitting $87.88. 5,458,127 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,645,779. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12 month low of $85.32 and a 12 month high of $109.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.97, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $92.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.43.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.92 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. Colgate-Palmolive's quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 20th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $101.00 price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price target (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Colgate-Palmolive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $102.39.

About Colgate-Palmolive

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.