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

Key Points

• Colgate-Palmolive Company has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from eleven brokerages, with one sell rating, three holds, and seven buys.
• The company's average target price is $98.00, although individual analysts have varied targets, with Wells Fargo setting the lowest at $83.00.
• Colgate-Palmolive announced a $0.52 quarterly dividend to be paid on November 14th, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.5%.

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $98.00.

CL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $83.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $109.00 to $106.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

NYSE:CL traded down $1.81 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $79.36. The stock had a trading volume of 5,855,951 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,043,141. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.79. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.35. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $79.29 and a 52 week high of $104.49.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.03 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.55% and a return on equity of 377.63%. Colgate-Palmolive's revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.43%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caldwell Trust Co bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the second quarter worth about $1,056,000. Cambridge Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cambridge Financial Group LLC now owns 3,602 shares of the company's stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC now owns 9,005 shares of the company's stock worth $819,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 18.8% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 140,666 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,802,000 after purchasing an additional 22,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 5.1% during the second quarter. Cypress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,463 shares of the company's stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company's stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Company Profile

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.