Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Has $370,000 Stock Holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 6.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,951 shares of the company’s stock after selling 264 shares during the quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $370,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter worth $912,375,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $348,718,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1,088.8% in the fourth quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,569,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,584,000 after acquiring an additional 2,353,268 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,922,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $629,369,000 after acquiring an additional 1,816,865 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $132,405,000. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.12.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

CL opened at $90.18 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $91.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.17. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1-year low of $85.32 and a 1-year high of $109.30. The company has a market cap of $73.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.62, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is 58.76%.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.