Short Interest in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Grows By 18.6%

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 10,720,000 shares, an increase of 18.6% from the February 13th total of 9,040,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,860,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price (down from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.72.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of CL opened at $89.45 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $89.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $85.32 and a 52 week high of $109.30.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period last year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Colgate-Palmolive

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.