Haleon (NYSE:HLN) Sees Large Volume Increase – Time to Buy?

Haleon plc (NYSE:HLN) saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday . 6,366,402 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 23% from the previous session’s volume of 5,183,937 shares.The stock last traded at $10.08 and had previously closed at $10.10.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HLN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Haleon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Haleon from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Haleon from $9.90 to $10.95 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on Haleon in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $10.95.

Haleon Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $45.75 billion, a PE ratio of 33.63, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.26. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Haleon (NYSE:HLN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. Haleon had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 13.15%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.08 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Haleon plc will post 0.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Haleon Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $0.0514 dividend. This represents a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Haleon’s payout ratio is 33.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Haleon by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 41,753,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $344,888,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,009 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Haleon by 164.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,542,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,454,000 after buying an additional 8,423,475 shares during the period. Sculptor Capital LP boosted its position in Haleon by 67.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sculptor Capital LP now owns 8,887,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,407,000 after acquiring an additional 3,592,000 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Haleon by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 8,533,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,489,000 after acquiring an additional 131,892 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Haleon by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,572,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,549,000 after purchasing an additional 196,843 shares during the period. 6.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.