Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Initiates Stock Repurchase Plan

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 20th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CL traded down $0.15 during trading on Thursday, reaching $90.29. 5,570,489 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,203,859. Colgate-Palmolive has a 12 month low of $85.32 and a 12 month high of $109.30. The firm has a market cap of $73.28 billion, a PE ratio of 25.65, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $89.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.01. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 477.77% and a net margin of 14.38%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is an increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is 56.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $96.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Colgate-Palmolive from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.72.

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.