Ground Swell Capital LLC Purchases New Stake in Haleon plc (NYSE:HLN)

Ground Swell Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Haleon plc (NYSE:HLN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 15,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $151,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Haleon by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 4,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,106 shares in the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co raised its position in Haleon by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 25,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Haleon by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 22,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Haleon by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 37,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its stake in shares of Haleon by 45.7% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 4,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270 shares during the last quarter. 6.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HLN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Haleon in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Haleon from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $11.25 target price for the company in a report on Friday. HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Haleon in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Haleon in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Haleon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.25.

Haleon Stock Performance

NYSE:HLN opened at $10.75 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $10.20 and its 200-day moving average is $9.84. Haleon plc has a 1-year low of $8.22 and a 1-year high of $10.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market cap of $48.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.24.

Haleon (NYSE:HLN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $3.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.38 billion. Haleon had a net margin of 10.85% and a return on equity of 14.76%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Haleon plc will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Haleon Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th will be given a dividend of $0.1166 per share. This is a positive change from Haleon’s previous — dividend of $0.05. This represents a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. Haleon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.97%.

Haleon Company Profile

Haleon plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of various consumer healthcare products in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides oral health products, such as toothpastes, mouth washes, and denture care products under the Sensodyne, Polident, Parodontax, Biotene brands; and vitamins, minerals, and supplements under Centrum, Emergen-C, Caltrate brands.