Haleon (NYSE:HLN) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Shares of Haleon plc (NYSE:HLN) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $10.16, but opened at $10.55. Haleon shares last traded at $10.51, with a volume of 1,086,357 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HLN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Haleon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Haleon in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. HSBC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Haleon in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Haleon from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Haleon from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.95.

Haleon Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $47.53 billion, a PE ratio of 30.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.25. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $10.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

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

Haleon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.1166 per share. This is a boost from Haleon’s previous — dividend of $0.05. This represents a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. Haleon’s dividend payout ratio is 58.97%.

Institutional Trading of Haleon

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HLN. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Haleon by 41.3% during the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 230,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,196,000 after acquiring an additional 67,329 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in Haleon by 27.2% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 350,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,701,000 after purchasing an additional 74,970 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in Haleon by 1,689.4% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 264,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,803,000 after buying an additional 250,169 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Haleon by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,071,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,758,000 after buying an additional 475,934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Haleon by 25.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,084,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,791,000 after buying an additional 1,026,939 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 6.67% of the company’s stock.

About Haleon

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.