Colgate-Palmolive (CL) To Go Ex-Dividend on April 17th

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 20th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of 0.52 per share on Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is a 4.0% increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50.

Colgate-Palmolive has increased its dividend payment by an average of 3.6% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 63 consecutive years. Colgate-Palmolive has a dividend payout ratio of 52.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Colgate-Palmolive to earn $4.03 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 51.6%.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CL opened at $94.98 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $90.65 and a 200-day moving average of $92.51. The firm has a market cap of $77.04 billion, a PE ratio of 26.98, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 twelve month low of $85.32 and a twelve month high of $109.30.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase 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 generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target (down from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Colgate-Palmolive stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,578 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. 80.41% of the stock is 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.