Haleon (NYSE:HLN) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Haleon plc (NYSE:HLN) saw strong trading volume on Tuesday . 10,265,774 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 28% from the previous session’s volume of 8,041,837 shares.The stock last traded at $10.94 and had previously closed at $10.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HLN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. HSBC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Haleon in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Haleon from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $11.25 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Haleon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Haleon in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Haleon in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $11.25.

Haleon Trading Up 0.8%

The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $49.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.25, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $10.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.87.

Haleon (NYSE:HLN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $3.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.38 billion. Haleon had a net margin of 10.85% and a return on equity of 14.76%. As a group, research analysts expect that Haleon plc will post 0.43 EPS for the current year.

Haleon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be given a $0.1166 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. This represents a yield of 1.6%. This is an increase from Haleon’s previous — dividend of $0.05. Haleon’s payout ratio is currently 58.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Haleon

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Haleon in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Haleon by 933.1% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 2,155,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,182,000 after purchasing an additional 1,947,050 shares during the period. American Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Haleon in the first quarter valued at about $235,000. Ascent Group LLC purchased a new position in Haleon in the 1st quarter valued at $569,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Haleon by 697.2% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,216,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,388,000 after acquiring an additional 3,687,613 shares during the period. 6.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.