HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Raises Stock Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,330 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 672 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $1,427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 4.6% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 112,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,677,000 after acquiring an additional 4,995 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in Colgate-Palmolive during the third quarter worth about $15,932,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,079,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 10,946.5% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 106,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,020,000 after purchasing an additional 105,196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.1% in the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 14,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,501,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on CL. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective (down from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.78.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 1.1 %

Colgate-Palmolive stock opened at $93.84 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $89.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.44. The stock has a market cap of $76.11 billion, a PE ratio of 26.66, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1-year low of $85.32 and a 1-year high of $109.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.01. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.09%.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Profile

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.