Edgewell Personal Care Company (NYSE:EPC) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Edgewell Personal Care Company (NYSE:EPC) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with three hold ratings and four buy ratings, suggesting a positive outlook for the stock.
• The company reported earnings per share of $0.92 in its most recent quarter, missing analysts' expectations by $0.09, while experiencing a 3.2% year-over-year decline in revenue.
• Edgewell announces a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $0.60 and a dividend yield of 2.6%.

Edgewell Personal Care Company (NYSE:EPC - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.2857.

EPC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Edgewell Personal Care from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $28.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th.

Edgewell Personal Care Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EPC opened at $22.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Edgewell Personal Care has a 12 month low of $19.13 and a 12 month high of $40.71. The stock has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.97 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50 day moving average of $24.53 and a 200 day moving average of $27.94.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by ($0.09). Edgewell Personal Care had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $627.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $658.51 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. The company's revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Edgewell Personal Care will post 3.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Edgewell Personal Care Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Edgewell Personal Care's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,066,471 shares of the company's stock valued at $189,335,000 after buying an additional 266,611 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 40.0% during the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 4,597,685 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,632,000 after buying an additional 1,313,248 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,671,271 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,944,000 after buying an additional 341,831 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in Edgewell Personal Care by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,345,054 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,488,000 after purchasing an additional 9,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its holdings in Edgewell Personal Care by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 969,969 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,707,000 after purchasing an additional 50,632 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.91% of the company's stock.

About Edgewell Personal Care

Edgewell Personal Care Company is a manufacturer and marketer of personal care products in the wet shave, sun and skin care, feminine care and infant care categories. As of September 30, 2016, the Company had a portfolio of over 25 brands. It manages its business in four segments: Wet Shave, Sun and Skin Care, Feminine Care and All Other.

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