Short Interest in Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) Declines By 13.2%

Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,910,000 shares, a decrease of 13.2% from the December 15th total of 2,200,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 422,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.5 days. Currently, 4.0% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Edgewell Personal Care Stock Up 1.7 %

EPC traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $33.76. 574,023 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 385,671. Edgewell Personal Care has a one year low of $31.20 and a one year high of $41.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.66. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $34.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.54. The company has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.22 and a beta of 0.89.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $517.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $535.23 million. Edgewell Personal Care had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 4.38%. Edgewell Personal Care’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Edgewell Personal Care will post 3.21 EPS for the current year.

Edgewell Personal Care Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Edgewell Personal Care’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Edgewell Personal Care from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Edgewell Personal Care from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Edgewell Personal Care from $36.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Edgewell Personal Care presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.80.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Edgewell Personal Care

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EPC. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Edgewell Personal Care during the second quarter worth about $53,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Edgewell Personal Care in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,370,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Edgewell Personal Care in the second quarter valued at approximately $569,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Edgewell Personal Care during the second quarter valued at $84,000. 91.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Edgewell Personal Care Company Profile

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.