Barclays Boosts Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Price Target to $89.00

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) had its price objective raised by Barclays from $83.00 to $89.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on CL. StockNews.com lowered shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $101.00 price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.06.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Colgate-Palmolive stock opened at $93.25 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $75.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1-year low of $85.32 and a 1-year high of $109.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $89.62 and a 200-day moving average of $93.80.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is currently 59.09%.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 20th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,303,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,391,261,000 after purchasing an additional 588,230 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,436,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,028,170,000 after buying an additional 1,784,411 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,518,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,868,723,000 after acquiring an additional 324,683 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth $912,375,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,497,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $863,447,000 after acquiring an additional 993,328 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

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.