Short Interest in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Expands By 18.6%

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) saw a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 10,720,000 shares, an increase of 18.6% from the February 13th total of 9,040,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,860,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Colgate-Palmolive

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 6,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $591,000 after acquiring an additional 943 shares during the last quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,315,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,066,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $803,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,644,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $793,542,000 after purchasing an additional 2,132,747 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

CL opened at $90.44 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $89.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.41. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12-month low of $85.32 and a 12-month high of $109.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.69, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.01. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CL. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $101.00 price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.72.

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.