Stevens Capital Management LP Has $405,000 Stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Stevens Capital Management LP decreased its position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 49.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,454 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,274 shares during the quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CL. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Wintrust Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $92.00 to $83.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $101.00 price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.72.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of CL opened at $90.30 on Monday. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $85.32 and a 52 week high of $109.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. 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 fifty day moving average of $89.33 and a 200-day moving average of $94.07.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (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 company posted $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.82%.

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

About Colgate-Palmolive

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.