Piscataqua Savings Bank Raises Stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Piscataqua Savings Bank increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,254 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 158 shares during the quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $1,148,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CL. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 18.7% in the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 14,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 2,221 shares during the last quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.8% in the first quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC now owns 68,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,516 shares during the last quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 1.5% in the first quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $828,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 7.0% in the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 160,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,004,000 after purchasing an additional 10,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.1% in the first quarter. Horizon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

NYSE CL opened at $90.18 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. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1 year low of $85.32 and a 1 year high of $109.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.08 billion, a PE ratio of 25.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.19.

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

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.76%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CL. Barclays dropped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. 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, April 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.12.

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.