Colgate-Palmolive (CL) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.52 on May 15th

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 20th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a dividend of 0.52 per share on Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is a 4.0% increase from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50.

Colgate-Palmolive has raised its dividend by an average of 3.6% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 62 consecutive years. Colgate-Palmolive has a dividend payout ratio of 49.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Colgate-Palmolive to earn $4.03 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 49.6%.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

NYSE CL opened at $90.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $73.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. Colgate-Palmolive has a twelve month low of $85.32 and a twelve month high of $109.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CL. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target (down from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a report on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $101.00 price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.72.

Colgate-Palmolive announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, March 20th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Colgate-Palmolive stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,578 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $962,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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.