The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $169.76.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PG shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com cut Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $161.24 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $153.51. Procter & Gamble has a 1-year low of $141.45 and a 1-year high of $164.32. The stock has a market cap of $380.55 billion, a PE ratio of 26.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.44.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.43 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Procter & Gamble will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total transaction of $7,020,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $151,788. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 22,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.32, for a total transaction of $3,549,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,845 shares in the company, valued at $5,943,835.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total value of $7,020,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $151,788. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 100,865 shares of company stock valued at $16,029,280 over the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,193,916,000 after buying an additional 3,047,557 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 2.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,313,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,275,616,000 after purchasing an additional 670,862 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter worth about $3,956,117,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,209,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,336,552,000 after purchasing an additional 206,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Procter & Gamble by 3.2% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,170,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,629,299,000 after purchasing an additional 346,925 shares during the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.