Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com lowered shares of Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on EPC. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Edgewell Personal Care from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $42.25.

Edgewell Personal Care Stock Up 0.6 %

EPC stock opened at $39.51 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.64. Edgewell Personal Care has a 52-week low of $33.71 and a 52-week high of $43.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.53 and a beta of 0.84.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $599.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.74 million. Edgewell Personal Care had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 9.29%. The company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Edgewell Personal Care will post 2.92 EPS for the current year.

Edgewell Personal Care Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 6th. Edgewell Personal Care’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.10%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Edgewell Personal Care

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EPC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Edgewell Personal Care by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,833,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,401,000 after acquiring an additional 29,217 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,575,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,976,000 after purchasing an additional 103,751 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,960,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,407,000 after purchasing an additional 262,499 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its holdings in Edgewell Personal Care by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,195,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,774,000 after purchasing an additional 120,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Edgewell Personal Care by 1.7% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 919,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,516,000 after purchasing an additional 15,355 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.91% of the company’s stock.

About Edgewell Personal Care

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.