Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Hits New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after DA Davidson upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. DA Davidson now has a $209.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $160.00. Procter & Gamble traded as high as $178.74 and last traded at $178.21, with a volume of 781518 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $176.28.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on PG. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Monday, October 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.45.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Susan Street Whaley sold 634 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.65, for a total value of $108,826.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,319,882.65. This trade represents a 3.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 1,992 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $338,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,110. This trade represents a 12.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 59,673 shares of company stock worth $10,102,753. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acorn Creek Capital LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 2.8% during the third quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.1% during the third quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 5,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $963,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 4.1% during the second quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 1.7% during the third quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 3,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC grew its position in Procter & Gamble by 2.8% in the second quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 2,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market capitalization of $419.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $170.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $168.66.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $21.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.99 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $1.0065 dividend. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is 69.48%.

About Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. The company operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, SK-II, and Native brands.