Advisor Resource Council Buys New Position in Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL)

Advisor Resource Council bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,341 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $313,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CL. Brighton Jones LLC increased 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 buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. TCW Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 15,932 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,448,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,569 shares of the company's stock valued at $506,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CL traded down $0.38 on Wednesday, hitting $87.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,570,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,778,269. The company has a market capitalization of $71.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.68 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.96, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.85. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a 12 month low of $85.32 and a 12 month high of $109.30. The stock's 50-day moving average is $91.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.67.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.92 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.52% and a return on equity of 461.04%. Colgate-Palmolive's revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio is presently 58.76%.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 20th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on CL. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays decreased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $101.69.

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.