Groupe la Francaise Lowers Stock Holdings in Colgate-Palmolive Company $CL

Key Points

• Groupe la Francaise has reduced its stake in Colgate-Palmolive Company by 3.8%, now owning 89,835 shares worth approximately $8.1 million.
• Colgate-Palmolive recently reported earnings of $0.92 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations, with a quarterly revenue of $5.11 billion, a 1% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.52, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.4% and a payout ratio of 58.43%.

Groupe la Francaise lessened its stake in Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 3.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 89,835 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,587 shares during the quarter. Groupe la Francaise's holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $8,108,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,578 shares of the company's stock worth $962,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,240 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth $456,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 158.3% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 17,269 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,570,000 after purchasing an additional 10,584 shares during the period. 80.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $96.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $109.00 to $106.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $83.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $98.92.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock traded up $0.23 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $84.37. 3,960,060 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,214,208. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $87.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.79, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $68.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.35. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a 12-month low of $82.40 and a 12-month high of $109.30.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.03. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.55% and a return on equity of 377.63%. The business had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. The company's revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive Company will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th were issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. Colgate-Palmolive's payout ratio is presently 58.43%.

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.