Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) Short Interest Update

Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,200,000 shares, a growth of 8.4% from the November 30th total of 2,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 419,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.2 days. Currently, 4.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial reduced 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 report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Edgewell Personal Care from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.40.

Edgewell Personal Care Trading Up 0.3 %

Edgewell Personal Care stock traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $33.60. The stock had a trading volume of 357,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 402,656. The stock has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Edgewell Personal Care has a 52 week low of $33.18 and a 52 week high of $41.50.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) last posted 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 return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 4.38%. The company had revenue of $517.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $535.23 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. Edgewell Personal Care’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Edgewell Personal Care will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Edgewell Personal Care Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. Edgewell Personal Care’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EPC. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Edgewell Personal Care by 14.0% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 693 shares during the period. Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 16.5% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 7,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Edgewell Personal Care by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 11,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.91% of the company’s stock.

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.