Haleon (NYSE:HLN) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Haleon plc (NYSE:HLN) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 6,366,402 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 23% from the previous session’s volume of 5,183,937 shares.The stock last traded at $10.08 and had previously closed at $10.10.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Haleon from $9.90 to $10.95 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group raised Haleon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Haleon from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Berenberg Bank began coverage on shares of Haleon in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $10.95.

Haleon Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.26. The company’s 50-day moving average is $10.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.12.

Haleon (NYSE:HLN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.55 billion. Haleon had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 9.71%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Haleon plc will post 0.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Haleon Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.0514 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.6%. Haleon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Haleon by 182.3% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 438,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,726,000 after purchasing an additional 283,410 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Haleon during the 1st quarter worth $1,969,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Haleon by 164.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,542,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,454,000 after acquiring an additional 8,423,475 shares during the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Haleon by 2.1% during the first quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 8,401,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,332,000 after purchasing an additional 175,082 shares during the period. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Haleon by 559.9% in the 1st quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 131,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 111,713 shares during the period. 6.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Haleon

Haleon plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of various consumer healthcare products in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides oral health products, such as toothpastes, mouth washes, and denture care products under the Sensodyne, Polident, Parodontax, Biotene brands; and vitamins, minerals, and supplements under Centrum, Emergen-C, Caltrate brands.