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

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 10,720,000 shares, a growth of 18.6% from the February 13th total of 9,040,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 4,860,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CL has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $96.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $121.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.72.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

CL opened at $89.45 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $72.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.41, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50 day moving average of $89.13 and a 200-day moving average of $94.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12-month low of $85.32 and a 12-month high of $109.30.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 in the previous year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Colgate-Palmolive

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CL. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.