Cannell & Spears LLC Decreases Holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Cannell & Spears LLC lowered its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 0.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 333,250 shares of the company’s stock after selling 146 shares during the quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $30,296,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 14,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,285,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 220,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,003,000 after purchasing an additional 4,576 shares during the last quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter valued at about $64,000. Allianz SE purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,645,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 8,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $750,000 after acquiring an additional 1,905 shares during the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on CL. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.06.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE CL opened at $92.73 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $89.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $75.25 billion, a PE ratio of 26.34, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a one year low of $85.32 and a one year high of $109.30.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.01. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. Analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is currently 59.09%.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 20th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Company Profile

Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells consumer products in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: Oral, Personal and Home Care; and Pet Nutrition. The Oral, Personal and Home Care segment offers toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, bar and liquid hand soaps, shower gels, shampoos, conditioners, deodorants and antiperspirants, skin health products, dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, and other related items.