Colgate-Palmolive’s (CL) Sector Perform Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their sector perform rating on shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $101.00 target price on the stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $112.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $96.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.00.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

CL stock opened at $86.64 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.46, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.04. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52-week low of $82.68 and a 52-week high of $109.30. The company has a market capitalization of $70.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.82, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $91.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.25.

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 return on equity of 405.81% and a net margin of 14.27%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is 57.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, CFO Stanley J. Sutula III sold 45,410 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.11, for a total transaction of $4,273,535.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 36,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,456,283.86. The trade was a 55.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the third quarter worth $42,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.