Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Receives $91.44 Average Price Target from Analysts

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $91.44.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CL. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com cut Colgate-Palmolive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 0.7 %

CL opened at $94.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $77.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.21, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $88.78 and its 200 day moving average is $82.71. Colgate-Palmolive has a fifty-two week low of $67.62 and a fifty-two week high of $94.40.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.04. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 485.40% and a net margin of 13.22%. The company had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.73 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.29%.

Insider Activity at Colgate-Palmolive

In related news, insider John W. Kooyman sold 3,497 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.47, for a total value of $326,864.59. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,181 shares in the company, valued at $297,328.07. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Colgate-Palmolive news, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 5,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.96, for a total transaction of $486,128.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 63,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,309,294.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John W. Kooyman sold 3,497 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.47, for a total transaction of $326,864.59. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $297,328.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 162,545 shares of company stock worth $13,663,710 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Colgate-Palmolive

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CL. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 32.8% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 3,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 898 shares in the last quarter. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 45.6% during the 1st quarter. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 107,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,657,000 after purchasing an additional 33,580 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 10.0% during the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,269,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 12.9% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,103,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,392,000 after purchasing an additional 126,456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 9.2% in the first quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,232,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

About Colgate-Palmolive

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.