Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc Reduces Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc lowered its position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,317 shares of the company’s stock after selling 689 shares during the quarter. Colgate-Palmolive makes up approximately 1.0% of Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $1,154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CL. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 14,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 2,221 shares during the period. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC now owns 68,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,516 shares during the period. KFG Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $828,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 160,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,004,000 after purchasing an additional 10,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 3.1% in the first quarter. Horizon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Barclays lowered their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.12.

Colgate-Palmolive Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:CL opened at $90.18 on Friday. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1 year low of $85.32 and a 1 year high of $109.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $91.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.62, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.76%.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.