Smith Moore & CO. Reduces Stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Smith Moore & CO. lessened its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 17.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,522 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,666 shares during the quarter. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $1,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Wintrust Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $101.00 price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.06.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Down 4.4 %

CL opened at $91.75 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $90.27 and a 200 day moving average of $93.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.58 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. The firm has a market cap of $74.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.06, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

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

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is currently 59.09%.

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.