Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) Sets New 52-Week Low After Analyst Downgrade

Edgewell Personal Care Company (NYSE:EPC)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $19.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Edgewell Personal Care traded as low as $17.62 and last traded at $18.1430, with a volume of 1198767 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $18.39.

EPC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley raised Edgewell Personal Care from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $26.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Edgewell Personal Care from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $28.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EPC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 4.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,066,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,335,000 after purchasing an additional 266,611 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its stake in Edgewell Personal Care by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 4,597,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,632,000 after buying an additional 1,313,248 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,950,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,426,000 after buying an additional 278,919 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,345,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,488,000 after buying an additional 9,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 969,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,707,000 after buying an additional 50,632 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.91% of the company’s stock.

Edgewell Personal Care Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $20.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.50. The company has a market capitalization of $844.07 million, a P/E ratio of 13.47 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by ($0.14). Edgewell Personal Care had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $537.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $532.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Edgewell Personal Care has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.150-2.550 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Edgewell Personal Care Company will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Edgewell Personal Care Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 4th. Edgewell Personal Care’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.38%.

About Edgewell Personal Care

Edgewell Personal Care Company is a manufacturer and marketer of personal care products in the wet shave, sun and skin care, feminine care and infant care categories. As of September 30, 2016, the Company had a portfolio of over 25 brands. It manages its business in four segments: Wet Shave, Sun and Skin Care, Feminine Care and All Other.