Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Cuts Stock Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec trimmed its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 45.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,045,684 shares of the company’s stock after selling 875,484 shares during the quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned about 0.13% of Colgate-Palmolive worth $95,063,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,644,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $793,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,132,747 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $752,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 125.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 51,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,329,000 after purchasing an additional 28,518 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 50,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,258,000 after purchasing an additional 1,203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 4.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 997,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,514,000 after buying an additional 46,944 shares during the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CL opened at $90.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1 year low of $85.32 and a 1 year high of $109.30. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $92.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.99.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.05. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 477.77%. The firm had revenue of $4.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This is a positive change 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 2.29%. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is currently 58.76%.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 20th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on CL. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price (down from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $101.00 target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.39.

Colgate-Palmolive 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.