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

Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,280,000 shares, a decrease of 9.9% from the October 15th total of 2,530,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 421,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.4 days. Approximately 4.7% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on EPC shares. Truist Financial cut their price objective 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. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Edgewell Personal Care presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.40.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Edgewell Personal Care

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Edgewell Personal Care by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 20,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $886,000 after buying an additional 571 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 10,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,000 after buying an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 693 shares during the period. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new stake in shares of Edgewell Personal Care during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. 91.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Edgewell Personal Care Stock Performance

Shares of EPC traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $34.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 241,153 shares, compared to its average volume of 396,654. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.95. Edgewell Personal Care has a 1-year low of $33.27 and a 1-year high of $41.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.81 and a beta of 0.86.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $517.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $535.23 million. Edgewell Personal Care had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 9.78%. The company’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Edgewell Personal Care will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Edgewell Personal Care Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Edgewell Personal Care’s payout ratio is 30.61%.

Edgewell Personal Care Company Profile

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.