Panagora Asset Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Colgate-Palmolive Company $CL

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 17.5%, owning 1,266,236 shares valued at approximately $118.6 million.
• Several hedge funds are buying shares of Colgate-Palmolive, leading to an overall hedge fund ownership of 80.41% in the company.
• Colgate-Palmolive recently revealed a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, resulting in an annual yield of 2.5% with a payout ratio of 58.43%.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL - Free Report) by 17.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,266,236 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 188,846 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.16% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $118,646,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,758,257 shares of the company's stock worth $7,660,749,000 after purchasing an additional 455,198 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 18.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,009,078 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,186,651,000 after acquiring an additional 5,269,140 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 34.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,980,387 shares of the company's stock valued at $747,762,000 after acquiring an additional 2,045,191 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,176,598 shares of the company's stock valued at $672,447,000 after acquiring an additional 253,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,976,654 shares of the company's stock valued at $653,761,000 after acquiring an additional 177,833 shares in the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CL traded down $0.69 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $83.70. 4,668,841 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,205,683. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.79, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.51, a PEG ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.35. Colgate-Palmolive Company has a one year low of $82.40 and a one year high of $109.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $86.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.81.

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

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $109.00 to $106.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $83.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen cut Colgate-Palmolive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $98.92.

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.