Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts rate Colgate-Palmolive “Moderate Buy”: Of 19 firms covering the stock, 12 recommend buying and seven rate it a hold. The average 12-month price target is $99, versus a recent price of $93.24.
• Colgate-Palmolive beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.99 per share versus the $0.95 consensus, while revenue rose 4.9% year over year to $5.36 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share, equating to a $2.12 annualized payout and a 2.3% yield. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the stock, while recent insider sales included a large CEO transaction tied partly to tax withholding obligations.

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the nineteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $99.00.

CL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays upped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $100.00 price objective on Colgate-Palmolive and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John T. Cahill sold 4,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.37, for a total value of $389,352.90. Following the transaction, the director owned 28,373 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,649,187.01. This represents a 12.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 161,021 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total value of $14,801,050.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 362,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,296,273.52. This represents a 30.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 0.43% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Colgate-Palmolive

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,578 shares of the company's stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 76.3% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 46,361 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,344,000 after purchasing an additional 20,062 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 2.0% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 12,494 shares of the company's stock worth $1,136,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 165.5% during the 2nd quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 10,326 shares of the company's stock worth $939,000 after buying an additional 6,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 21.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 657,093 shares of the company's stock worth $59,732,000 after buying an additional 116,968 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company's stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of CL opened at $93.24 on Monday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $91.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.82, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.03. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1 year low of $74.54 and a 1 year high of $99.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.33 billion, a PE ratio of 37.00, a P/E/G ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.33.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.04. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 9.68% and a return on equity of 464.63%. The firm had revenue of $5.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 20th. Colgate-Palmolive's payout ratio is 84.13%.

Colgate-Palmolive Company Profile

Colgate-Palmolive Company is a global consumer products company with a long history in household and personal care categories. The business traces its roots to the early 19th century and has evolved into a multinational manufacturer and marketer of everyday consumer goods focused on health, hygiene and home care.

The company's core activities center on oral care, personal care, home care and pet nutrition. Its product portfolio includes toothpaste, toothbrushes and mouthwash in oral care; soaps, body washes and deodorants in personal care; dishwashing liquids, surface cleaners and other household products in home care; and scientifically formulated pet foods under its pet nutrition business.

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