Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Evercore Analyst Says

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) had its target price boosted by stock analysts at Evercore from $100.00 to $101.00 in a report issued on Thursday. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Evercore’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 14.52% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on CL. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Thursday, August 13th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $102.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $101.00 target price (up from $99.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.11.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE CL opened at $88.19 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.31 billion, a PE ratio of 35.00, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $89.10 and a 200-day moving average of $88.77. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52-week low of $74.54 and a 52-week high of $99.33.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $5.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.36 billion. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 464.63% and a net margin of 9.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Colgate-Palmolive

In other news, CEO Noel R. Wallace sold 161,021 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total transaction of $14,801,050.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 362,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,296,273.52. The trade was a 30.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director John T. Cahill sold 4,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.37, for a total value of $389,352.90. Following the sale, the director owned 28,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,649,187.01. This trade represents a 12.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 175,191 shares of company stock valued at $16,110,903. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 97.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 94,195,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,635,889,000 after acquiring an additional 46,476,510 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 172.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,521,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,067,211,000 after purchasing an additional 7,927,238 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the 2nd quarter worth about $567,483,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 266.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,146,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,136,000 after purchasing an additional 3,014,860 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $236,682,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

About Colgate-Palmolive

Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE: CL) is a global consumer products company focused on oral care, personal care, home care and pet nutrition. Its portfolio includes toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwashes, body washes, deodorants, soaps, household cleaning products and pet food and treats.

The company markets many of its products under well-known brands, including Colgate, Palmolive, elmex, meridol, Protex, Softsoap, Ajax, Irish Spring, Speed Stick, Tom’s of Maine and Hill’s Science Diet.