Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) Short Interest Down 9.9% in October

Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,280,000 shares, a drop of 9.9% from the October 15th total of 2,530,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 421,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.4 days. Approximately 4.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Edgewell Personal Care Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE EPC traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $34.65. 192,533 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 396,372. Edgewell Personal Care has a 12-month low of $33.27 and a 12-month high of $41.50. The firm has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.81 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $35.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.05. Edgewell Personal Care had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 9.78%. The business had revenue of $517.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $535.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Edgewell Personal Care will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Edgewell Personal Care Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Edgewell Personal Care’s dividend payout ratio is 30.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Edgewell Personal Care

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EPC. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in Edgewell Personal Care in the 1st quarter worth $568,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Edgewell Personal Care by 25.5% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 40,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,562,000 after acquiring an additional 8,214 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Edgewell Personal Care by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 10,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the period. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 2.8% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 20,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $886,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EPC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com cut Edgewell Personal Care from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Edgewell Personal Care from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.40.

About Edgewell Personal Care

Edgewell Personal Care Company is a manufacturer and marketer of personal care products in the wet shave, sun and skin care, feminine care and infant care categories. As of September 30, 2016, the Company had a portfolio of over 25 brands. It manages its business in four segments: Wet Shave, Sun and Skin Care, Feminine Care and All Other.