Procter & Gamble’s (PG) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at DA Davidson

DA Davidson reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. DA Davidson currently has a $209.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. DZ Bank raised Procter & Gamble from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Procter & Gamble presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.45.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:PG opened at $169.53 on Friday. Procter & Gamble has a 12-month low of $145.04 and a 12-month high of $180.43. The company has a market capitalization of $399.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.23, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $170.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The business had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Procter & Gamble will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a dividend of $1.0065 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 69.31%.

Insider Activity

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total transaction of $108,826.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,319,882.65. This trade represents a 3.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 1,992 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $338,640.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,110. The trade was a 12.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 83,080 shares of company stock worth $14,629,038. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PG. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 19,030.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,693,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,730,000 after acquiring an additional 3,674,286 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 16,292.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 3,675,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $606,230,000 after purchasing an additional 3,653,477 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 55,204,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,538,327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,619,466 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Procter & Gamble by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,988,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,290,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Procter & Gamble in the third quarter valued at approximately $301,950,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. The company operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, SK-II, and Native brands.