Gabelli Funds LLC Reduces Holdings in Edgewell Personal Care Company $EPC

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC reduced its stake in Edgewell Personal Care Company by 14.7%, now holding 707,425 shares worth $22 million after selling 121,500 shares in the first quarter.
• In total, 91.91% of Edgewell's stock is owned by hedge funds and institutional investors, with PNC Financial Services Group significantly increasing its stake by 238.5%.
• Edgewell reported a quarterly EPS of $0.92, missing analyst estimates of $1.01, while its quarterly revenue decreased by 3.2% year-over-year.

Gabelli Funds LLC reduced its holdings in Edgewell Personal Care Company (NYSE:EPC - Free Report) by 14.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 707,425 shares of the company's stock after selling 121,500 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC owned about 1.50% of Edgewell Personal Care worth $22,079,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Comerica Bank increased its holdings in Edgewell Personal Care by 6.9% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 28,712 shares of the company's stock worth $896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,863 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Edgewell Personal Care in the first quarter worth approximately $232,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 3.3% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,329,440 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,912,000 after acquiring an additional 106,701 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 4.1% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 25,815 shares of the company's stock valued at $806,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 35.3% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 14,568 shares of the company's stock valued at $455,000 after acquiring an additional 3,804 shares in the last quarter. 91.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EPC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Edgewell Personal Care from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on Edgewell Personal Care from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Edgewell Personal Care from $26.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Edgewell Personal Care from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Edgewell Personal Care from $43.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $29.29.

Edgewell Personal Care Stock Performance

EPC stock traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $24.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 506,347 shares, compared to its average volume of 967,944. The stock has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.79 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $24.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.40. Edgewell Personal Care Company has a 1 year low of $19.13 and a 1 year high of $40.35.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $627.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $658.51 million. Edgewell Personal Care had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. Edgewell Personal Care has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.650-2.650 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Edgewell Personal Care Company will post 3.16 EPS for the current year.

Edgewell Personal Care Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. Edgewell Personal Care's dividend payout ratio is 44.44%.

Edgewell Personal Care Company Profile

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.