Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.06.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Down 4.4 %

NYSE:CL opened at $91.75 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $74.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a twelve month low of $85.32 and a twelve month high of $109.30. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $90.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40.

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

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, March 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Colgate-Palmolive

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,526,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 2,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 2,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Lantz Financial LLC grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 20,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,831,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

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.