Auto Owners Insurance Co Raises Stock Position in Procter & Gamble Company (The) $PG

Key Points

• Auto Owners Insurance Co massively increased its Procter & Gamble stake in the fourth quarter, buying more than 3.5 million additional shares and bringing its holding to about $508.7 million.
• Procter & Gamble reported better-than-expected earnings of $1.59 per share, though revenue came in slightly below forecasts at $21.23 billion; the company also raised its full-year EPS guidance.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $1.0885 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 2.9%, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus target of $160.78.

Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG - Free Report) by 14,231.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,549,645 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,524,876 shares during the quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co owned approximately 0.15% of Procter & Gamble worth $508,700,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Carson Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 12,124 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,738,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 6,289 shares of the company's stock valued at $901,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,829 shares of the company's stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,623 shares of the company's stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grant Street Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Grant Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,627 shares of the company's stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $159.00 to $155.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Evercore set a $162.00 price target on Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $160.78.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Procter & Gamble stock opened at $150.85 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.80. The firm has a market cap of $351.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.54 and a beta of 0.39. Procter & Gamble Company has a fifty-two week low of $137.62 and a fifty-two week high of $167.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The company reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $21.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.52 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 19.16% and a return on equity of 32.00%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.830-7.090 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 24th were paid a $1.0885 dividend. This represents a $4.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble's previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 24th. Procter & Gamble's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.60%.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

Procter & Gamble NYSE: PG is a multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble, P&G has grown into one of the world's largest producers of branded consumer packaged goods. The company focuses on developing, manufacturing and marketing a broad portfolio of household and personal care products sold to consumers and retailers worldwide.

P&G's product offering spans several core business categories, including Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric & Home Care, and Baby, Feminine & Family Care.

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