Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC Lowers Stock Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC lowered its position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 18.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,947 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,081 shares during the period. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,303,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,391,261,000 after buying an additional 588,230 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,518,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,868,723,000 after purchasing an additional 324,683 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter worth about $912,375,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,497,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $863,447,000 after purchasing an additional 993,328 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 9,200,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $806,015,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040,604 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

CL opened at $89.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.33. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52-week low of $85.32 and a 52-week high of $109.30.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $4.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 20th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. This is a boost from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is 58.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CL. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $101.00 price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.12.

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.