Toronto Dominion Bank Acquires 2,331 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 463,557 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,331 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $42,140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CL. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Wintrust Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on CL. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $101.00 price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective (down from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.12.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Up 1.8%

CL opened at $91.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $85.32 and a 52 week high of $109.30. The stock has a market cap of $73.96 billion, a PE ratio of 25.93, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50 day moving average of $91.65 and a 200-day moving average of $91.29.

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

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

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is presently 58.76%.

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.