Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd Makes New $25.68 Million Investment in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd acquired a new position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 282,501 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,682,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,644,189 shares of the company's stock valued at $793,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,132,747 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 177,145 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,104,000 after purchasing an additional 10,696 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 19,455 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,089 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,634 shares of the company's stock worth $876,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 53.1% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 12,391 shares of the company's stock worth $1,070,000 after acquiring an additional 4,295 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on CL. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $102.12.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE CL traded up $1.63 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $91.26. The stock had a trading volume of 4,650,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,656,198. The company has a market capitalization of $73.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.39. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $91.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.31. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $85.32 and a 52 week high of $109.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.92 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. The company's revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Colgate-Palmolive's dividend payout ratio is presently 58.76%.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.