Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Initiates Share Repurchase Plan

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 20th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group cut their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective (down from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $101.00 price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.72.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

NYSE:CL opened at $90.30 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.27. The company has a market cap of $73.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. 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 has a 52-week low of $85.32 and a 52-week high of $109.30.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.82%.

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.