Brokerages Set Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Price Target at $102.12

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $102.12.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CL. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Colgate-Palmolive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th.

Institutional Trading of Colgate-Palmolive

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $912,375,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 18.3% in the first 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 buying an additional 5,269,140 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at about $348,718,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 1,088.8% during the fourth quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,569,394 shares of the company's stock worth $233,584,000 after acquiring an additional 2,353,268 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the first quarter worth about $217,593,000. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock traded up $0.08 on Wednesday, hitting $92.02. 5,353,809 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,735,710. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52-week low of $85.32 and a 52-week high of $109.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40. The stock has a market cap of $74.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.14, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.38. The firm's 50-day moving average is $91.63 and its 200 day moving average is $91.13.

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

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio is presently 58.76%.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.