Bank of America Corp DE Sells 243,195 Shares of Energizer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ENR)

Bank of America Corp DE trimmed its position in Energizer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ENR - Free Report) by 32.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 509,544 shares of the company's stock after selling 243,195 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.71% of Energizer worth $17,778,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ENR. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Energizer during the 4th quarter worth $11,718,000. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Energizer in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,685,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Energizer in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,277,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Energizer by 76.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 414,473 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,461,000 after buying an additional 179,521 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Energizer during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,545,000. 93.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group cut their price target on Energizer from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on Energizer from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Energizer from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of Energizer in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Energizer from $36.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.63.

Energizer Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:ENR traded up $0.08 on Monday, reaching $22.90. 766,160 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 659,043. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $26.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.37. Energizer Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.49 and a 52 week high of $39.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.99 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.17.

Energizer (NYSE:ENR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $662.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $670.85 million. Energizer had a return on equity of 168.16% and a net margin of 2.02%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Energizer Holdings, Inc. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energizer Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.24%. Energizer's dividend payout ratio is currently 164.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Energizer news, CEO Mark Stephen Lavigne bought 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $21.67 per share, with a total value of $86,680.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 277,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,016,567.15. This trade represents a 1.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Patrick J. Moore bought 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $23.10 per share, with a total value of $231,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 15,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $346,500. This represents a 200.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 25,000 shares of company stock worth $578,140 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company's stock.

About Energizer

Energizer Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes household batteries, specialty batteries, and lighting products worldwide. It offers lithium, alkaline, carbon zinc, nickel metal hydride, zinc air, and silver oxide batteries under the Energizer, Eveready, and Rayovac brands; primary, rechargeable, specialty, and hearing aid batteries; and handheld, headlights, lanterns, and area lights, as well as flashlights under the Hard Case, Dolphin, and WeatherReady brands.