Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Given Sector Perform Rating at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their sector perform rating on shares of Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $164.00 price target on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on PG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group cut their price target on Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.25.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

NYSE:PG opened at $166.20 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $391.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.46, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.38. Procter & Gamble has a 1 year low of $152.06 and a 1 year high of $180.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21,657,595.49 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 32.88%. Procter & Gamble’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Procter & Gamble will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $2,210,944.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,002,804.35. This represents a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at $7,189,463.68. This trade represents a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 94,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,300,000 after purchasing an additional 4,035 shares in the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble in the third quarter valued at $668,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble in the 4th quarter worth about $569,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,898,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $484,583,000 after acquiring an additional 201,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 3.4% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 185,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,065,000 after purchasing an additional 6,077 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.