Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on CL. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $101.00 target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price (down from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group cut their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $121.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.72.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of CL opened at $92.05 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $74.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.15, 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. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

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

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Colgate-Palmolive

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,303,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,391,261,000 after buying an additional 588,230 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,436,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,028,170,000 after acquiring an additional 1,784,411 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,518,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,868,723,000 after acquiring an additional 324,683 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth $912,375,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,497,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $863,447,000 after purchasing an additional 993,328 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

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.