Short Interest in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Expands By 20.3%

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 10,200,000 shares, an increase of 20.3% from the September 15th total of 8,480,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,150,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CL. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $109.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $109.00 in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.00.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE CL traded down $0.70 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $100.85. 986,630 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,328,555. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.90, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.06. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52 week low of $71.22 and a 52 week high of $109.30. The company has a market cap of $82.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.15, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $103.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.41.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 470.19% and a net margin of 14.21%. The business had revenue of $5.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Colgate-Palmolive

In other Colgate-Palmolive news, insider Sally Massey sold 15,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.28, for a total value of $1,636,988.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,439,929.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Martina Hundmejean sold 2,313 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.86, for a total transaction of $240,228.18. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,220,874.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Sally Massey sold 15,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.28, for a total value of $1,636,988.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,439,929.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,490 shares of company stock valued at $4,486,063 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Colgate-Palmolive

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CL. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 27.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 41,067,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,698,096,000 after acquiring an additional 8,933,912 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the first quarter worth $286,370,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 108.4% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,682,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $551,367,000 after purchasing an additional 2,955,442 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 40.7% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,969,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $870,400,000 after purchasing an additional 2,593,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the first quarter worth $130,622,000. 80.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Company 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.