Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Trading Up 1.3% After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) traded up 1.3% during trading on Monday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $160.72 and last traded at $160.27. 2,592,370 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 6,872,382 shares. The stock had previously closed at $158.14.

The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.77%. The business had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial raised shares of Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total transaction of $135,517.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $634,634. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total value of $135,517.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $634,634. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Shailesh Jejurikar sold 31,275 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.90, for a total value of $4,844,497.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,490,602.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 103,771 shares of company stock valued at $16,292,467. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PG. Dfpg Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 24,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,680,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 6.3% in the third quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 94,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,772,000 after acquiring an additional 12,016 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,003,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,298,184,000 after acquiring an additional 131,339 shares during the period. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 105.5% in the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 59,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,699,000 after purchasing an additional 30,473 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $380.01 billion, a PE ratio of 26.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $159.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.26.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, and SK-II brands.