Premier Fund Managers Ltd Raises Holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd grew its stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 367.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 48,141 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 37,843 shares during the quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $4,371,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 46,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,204,000 after buying an additional 2,943 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 456,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,501,000 after purchasing an additional 53,942 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 880,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,013,000 after buying an additional 28,322 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 49,810.7% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 102,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,347,000 after buying an additional 102,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth $912,375,000. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $101.00 target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.06.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 1.3 %

CL stock opened at $93.25 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $89.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a one year low of $85.32 and a one year high of $109.30.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.01. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 477.77%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, March 20th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

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

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.