Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

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

EPC has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays cut their target price on Edgewell Personal Care from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $41.80.

Edgewell Personal Care Price Performance

Edgewell Personal Care stock opened at $36.40 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $39.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.58. Edgewell Personal Care has a 12-month low of $33.71 and a 12-month high of $41.50. The stock has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.23 and a beta of 0.87.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $647.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $649.67 million. Edgewell Personal Care had a return on equity of 9.92% and a net margin of 5.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Edgewell Personal Care will post 3 earnings per share for the current year.

Edgewell Personal Care Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. Edgewell Personal Care’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.10%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Edgewell Personal Care

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,833,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,401,000 after acquiring an additional 29,217 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Edgewell Personal Care by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,620,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,524,000 after purchasing an additional 24,513 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its position in Edgewell Personal Care by 19.7% in the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,529,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,545,000 after purchasing an additional 252,235 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 16.6% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,071,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,058,000 after buying an additional 152,200 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 695,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,481,000 after buying an additional 8,312 shares during the period. 91.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.