Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $101.69.

CL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays dropped their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Down 0.7%

Colgate-Palmolive stock opened at $91.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.96, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Colgate-Palmolive has a one year low of $85.32 and a one year high of $109.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.36 billion, a PE ratio of 25.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.37. The business's fifty day moving average is $90.61 and its 200 day moving average is $90.54.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.05. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 461.04% and a net margin of 14.52%. The company had revenue of $4.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. Colgate-Palmolive's revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.76%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,758,257 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,660,749,000 after purchasing an additional 455,198 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 18.3% during the 1st 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,518,014 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,868,723,000 after purchasing an additional 324,683 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $912,375,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,497,819 shares of the company's stock valued at $863,447,000 after purchasing an additional 993,328 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company's stock.

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.

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