Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.00.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EPC. UBS Group cut their price target on Edgewell Personal Care from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Edgewell Personal Care from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th.

Edgewell Personal Care Price Performance

Shares of EPC opened at $34.51 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.79. The firm has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a PE ratio of 14.44 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $36.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.08. Edgewell Personal Care has a twelve month low of $33.27 and a twelve month high of $41.50.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $647.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $649.67 million. Edgewell Personal Care had a net margin of 5.26% and a return on equity of 9.92%. Edgewell Personal Care’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Edgewell Personal Care will post 3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Edgewell Personal Care Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. Edgewell Personal Care’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.10%.

Institutional Trading of Edgewell Personal Care

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Edgewell Personal Care by 63.9% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 664,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,163,000 after acquiring an additional 259,200 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 19.7% in the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,529,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,545,000 after purchasing an additional 252,235 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 16.6% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,071,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,058,000 after purchasing an additional 152,200 shares in the last quarter. Kestrel Investment Management Corp bought a new position in Edgewell Personal Care during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,855,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Edgewell Personal Care by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 673,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,072,000 after purchasing an additional 101,533 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.91% of the company’s stock.

Edgewell Personal Care Company Profile

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.