Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Price Target Increased to $100.00 by Analysts at Citigroup

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) had its price objective lifted by Citigroup from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

CL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a buy rating and a $93.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $91.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $89.50.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock opened at $87.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $87.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.78. Colgate-Palmolive has a one year low of $67.62 and a one year high of $90.37. The stock has a market cap of $71.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.59, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.02. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 11.82% and a return on equity of 509.75%. The business had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is 69.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 29,772 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total value of $2,502,634.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 301,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,330,892.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Colgate-Palmolive news, insider Jennifer Daniels sold 61,633 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.93, for a total value of $5,172,857.69. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,948 shares in the company, valued at $4,863,575.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 29,772 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.06, for a total value of $2,502,634.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 301,343 shares in the company, valued at $25,330,892.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 232,371 shares of company stock worth $19,505,099 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CL. Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 25.1% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 370,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,498,000 after acquiring an additional 74,337 shares during the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 22.1% in the fourth quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 10,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $864,000 after buying an additional 910 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 4,053,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,115,000 after buying an additional 49,980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $571,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.