Haleon plc (NYSE:HLN) Short Interest Down 12.9% in July

Haleon plc (NYSE:HLN) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,520,000 shares, a decrease of 12.9% from the July 15th total of 17,810,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,900,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HLN. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in Haleon by 44.6% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 38,446,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $326,415,000 after purchasing an additional 11,865,076 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Haleon by 164.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,542,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,454,000 after purchasing an additional 8,423,475 shares in the last quarter. Martin Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Haleon by 12,018.4% during the first quarter. Martin Investment Management LLC now owns 4,463,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,893,000 after buying an additional 4,426,375 shares in the last quarter. Sculptor Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of Haleon by 67.8% during the second quarter. Sculptor Capital LP now owns 8,887,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,407,000 after buying an additional 3,592,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Haleon by 88.1% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,504,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,752,000 after buying an additional 1,641,715 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 6.67% of the company’s stock.

Haleon Stock Performance

Shares of HLN traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $9.76. 4,365,009 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,176,709. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $8.90 and its 200 day moving average is $8.54. The stock has a market cap of $44.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.04. Haleon has a 1-year low of $7.70 and a 1-year high of $9.86.

Haleon (NYSE:HLN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.01). Haleon had a return on equity of 19.85% and a net margin of 9.71%. The business had revenue of $3.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.08 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Haleon will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Haleon Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a $0.0514 dividend. This represents a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. Haleon’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HLN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on shares of Haleon in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Haleon from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Haleon Company Profile

Haleon plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of various consumer healthcare products in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides oral health products, such as toothpastes, mouth washes, and denture care products under the Sensodyne, Polident, Parodontax, Biotene brands; and vitamins, minerals, and supplements under Centrum, Emergen-C, Caltrate brands.