Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Reaches New 52-Week Low - Should You Sell?

Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $156.43 and last traded at $156.92, with a volume of 5093702 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $157.89.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Erste Group Bank cut Procter & Gamble from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $200.00 to $181.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Procter & Gamble from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $164.00 to $177.00 in a report on Friday, April 25th. Redburn Atlantic cut Procter & Gamble from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $161.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $172.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $178.45.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 1.0%

The firm's fifty day moving average price is $161.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $165.03. The company has a market capitalization of $367.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.91, a P/E/G ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $19.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.42 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.46% and a return on equity of 32.67%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a dividend of $1.0568 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. Procter & Gamble's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $1,669,208.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 25,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,995,627.94. This represents a 29.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jennifer L. Davis sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.38, for a total transaction of $161,380.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,965 shares in the company, valued at $8,386,111.70. This trade represents a 1.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 229,794,073 shares of the company's stock worth $38,524,976,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592,061 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 655,209.0% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 76,028,952 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,832,680,000 after buying an additional 76,017,350 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 56,472,195 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,457,000,000 after buying an additional 1,267,419 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,244,463,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Procter & Gamble by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,644,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,051,930,000 after buying an additional 248,792 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company's stock.

About Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.