Sone Capital Management LLC Buys New Position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Sone Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 18,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,646,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 4th quarter valued at $912,375,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter worth $348,718,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 1,088.8% during the fourth quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,569,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,584,000 after purchasing an additional 2,353,268 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,644,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $793,542,000 after purchasing an additional 2,132,747 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,922,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $629,369,000 after purchasing an additional 1,816,865 shares during the period. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup upped 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target (down previously from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.12.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of CL opened at $91.26 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40. The firm has a market cap of $73.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The company’s fifty day moving average is $91.65 and its 200-day moving average is $91.27.

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

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

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

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

Colgate-Palmolive Profile

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.