Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) saw a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,200,000 shares, a growth of 8.4% from the November 30th total of 2,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 419,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days. Approximately 4.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Edgewell Personal Care from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.40.

Edgewell Personal Care Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of EPC stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $33.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 357,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 402,656. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.17. Edgewell Personal Care has a 12-month low of $33.18 and a 12-month high of $41.50.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.05. Edgewell Personal Care had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 4.38%. The firm had revenue of $517.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $535.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. Edgewell Personal Care’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Edgewell Personal Care will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Edgewell Personal Care Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. Edgewell Personal Care’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

Institutional Trading of Edgewell Personal Care

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Edgewell Personal Care by 33.1% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new stake in Edgewell Personal Care during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 16.5% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 7,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 11,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.91% of the company’s stock.

About Edgewell Personal Care

Edgewell Personal Care Company is a manufacturer and marketer of personal care products in the wet shave, sun and skin care, feminine care and infant care categories. As of September 30, 2016, the Company had a portfolio of over 25 brands. It manages its business in four segments: Wet Shave, Sun and Skin Care, Feminine Care and All Other.