First Trust Advisors LP Grows Holdings in Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC)

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC - Free Report) by 49.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 120,197 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 39,732 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.25% of Edgewell Personal Care worth $4,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EPC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,799,860 shares of the company's stock worth $194,875,000 after purchasing an additional 24,850 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Edgewell Personal Care by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,222,739 shares of the company's stock valued at $108,284,000 after buying an additional 64,257 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,041,665 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,600,000 after buying an additional 355,224 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,166,152 shares of the company's stock worth $39,183,000 after buying an additional 74,231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 878,390 shares of the company's stock worth $29,514,000 after acquiring an additional 253,014 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EPC. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays decreased their target price on Edgewell Personal Care from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com raised Edgewell Personal Care from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Edgewell Personal Care from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Edgewell Personal Care from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.71.

Edgewell Personal Care Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of Edgewell Personal Care stock traded down $0.58 on Tuesday, reaching $30.06. The company had a trading volume of 611,978 shares, compared to its average volume of 459,636. The firm has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $30.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.65. Edgewell Personal Care Co has a 1 year low of $26.65 and a 1 year high of $41.50.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.06). Edgewell Personal Care had a return on equity of 9.29% and a net margin of 4.09%. As a group, research analysts predict that Edgewell Personal Care Co will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Edgewell Personal Care Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Edgewell Personal Care's payout ratio is currently 32.79%.

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.