Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Has $1.78 Million Stock Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. decreased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 19,537 shares of the company’s stock after selling 668 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $1,776,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. D Orazio & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 3.9% during the third quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 2,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 2,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 20,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,831,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 4.2% during the third quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 3,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 13,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CL. StockNews.com upgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price (down from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lowered their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $104.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lowered their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $96.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $101.00 target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.61.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE:CL opened at $91.09 on Wednesday. Colgate-Palmolive has a fifty-two week low of $85.32 and a fifty-two week high of $109.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.92 billion, a PE ratio of 25.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.44. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.29.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.01. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 21st. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.82%.

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.