Haleon (NYSE:HLN) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – What’s Next?

Haleon plc (NYSE:HLN) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday . 12,612,386 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 151% from the previous session’s volume of 5,025,327 shares.The stock last traded at $10.65 and had previously closed at $10.58.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on Haleon in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. UBS Group upgraded Haleon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Haleon from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Haleon from $9.90 to $10.95 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Haleon presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $10.95.

Haleon Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $10.04 and a 200 day moving average of $8.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $47.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.26.

Haleon (NYSE:HLN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.01). Haleon had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 9.71%. The business had revenue of $3.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.08 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Haleon plc will post 0.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Haleon Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $0.0514 dividend. This represents a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Haleon’s payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Haleon

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in Haleon by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 41,753,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $344,888,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307,009 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Haleon by 164.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,542,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,454,000 after purchasing an additional 8,423,475 shares in the last quarter. Sculptor Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Haleon by 67.8% during the second quarter. Sculptor Capital LP now owns 8,887,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,407,000 after buying an additional 3,592,000 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Haleon by 1.6% during the second quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 8,533,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,489,000 after buying an additional 131,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Haleon by 2.7% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,572,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,549,000 after buying an additional 196,843 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 6.67% of the company’s stock.

About Haleon

Haleon plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of various consumer healthcare products in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides oral health products, such as toothpastes, mouth washes, and denture care products under the Sensodyne, Polident, Parodontax, Biotene brands; and vitamins, minerals, and supplements under Centrum, Emergen-C, Caltrate brands.