Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd Purchases Shares of 282,501 Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd acquired a new position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 282,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,682,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CL. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 105.3% in the fourth quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 8,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $764,000 after acquiring an additional 4,314 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter worth about $58,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,680,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,793,000 after purchasing an additional 226,377 shares in the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,204,000. Finally, Logan Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. now owns 49,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,485,000 after buying an additional 16,226 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

Colgate-Palmolive stock opened at $87.88 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $92.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.40. 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 $71.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.97, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.39. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12-month low of $85.32 and a 12-month high of $109.30.

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

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, March 20th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CL shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $101.00 target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Colgate-Palmolive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.39.

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.