Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.50

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 11th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of 0.50 per share on Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st.

Colgate-Palmolive has increased its dividend by an average of 3.4% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 62 consecutive years. Colgate-Palmolive has a dividend payout ratio of 48.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Colgate-Palmolive to earn $3.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 52.2%.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CL opened at $88.79 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $72.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.44. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $92.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.74. Colgate-Palmolive has a fifty-two week low of $79.69 and a fifty-two week high of $109.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Stanley J. Sutula III sold 45,410 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.11, for a total value of $4,273,535.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 36,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,456,283.86. This represents a 55.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CL. StockNews.com lowered shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $101.00 to $95.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $109.00 to $103.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.11.

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.