Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC reduced its position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 40,785 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,862 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $3,708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CL. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Wintrust Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 80.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on CL. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $96.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.72.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:CL opened at $90.30 on Friday. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $85.32 and a 52 week high of $109.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $73.28 billion, a PE ratio of 25.65, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $89.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.27.

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. Analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.82%.

Colgate-Palmolive Profile

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.