Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $41.20.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EPC shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com cut Edgewell Personal Care from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Edgewell Personal Care from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Edgewell Personal Care from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday.

Edgewell Personal Care Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of EPC stock opened at $31.58 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $35.11 and a 200 day moving average of $36.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Edgewell Personal Care has a 1-year low of $31.20 and a 1-year high of $41.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a PE ratio of 16.11 and a beta of 0.88.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.05. Edgewell Personal Care had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 4.38%. The firm had revenue of $517.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $535.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Edgewell Personal Care will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Edgewell Personal Care Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. Edgewell Personal Care’s payout ratio is 30.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Edgewell Personal Care

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Edgewell Personal Care in the third quarter worth about $48,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care during the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care during the second quarter valued at approximately $84,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.91% of the company’s stock.

About Edgewell Personal Care

Edgewell Personal Care Company is a manufacturer and marketer of personal care products in the wet shave, sun and skin care, feminine care and infant care categories. As of September 30, 2016, the Company had a portfolio of over 25 brands. It manages its business in four segments: Wet Shave, Sun and Skin Care, Feminine Care and All Other.