Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Acquires 36,322 Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in shares of Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) by 3,529.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 37,351 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,322 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $3,396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CL. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 70.2% in the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 10,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,140,000 after purchasing an additional 4,530 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 4.6% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 112,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,677,000 after buying an additional 4,995 shares during the last quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive during the third quarter worth $203,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 1,460.9% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 3rd quarter valued at about $15,932,000. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

CL opened at $92.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.92. Colgate-Palmolive has a 52-week low of $85.32 and a 52-week high of $109.30. The firm has a market cap of $75.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s fifty day moving average is $89.69 and its 200-day moving average is $93.61.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.01. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 14.38% and a return on equity of 477.77%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.87 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given 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 yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive’s payout ratio is currently 59.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $101.00 target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $121.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective (down from $110.00) on shares of Colgate-Palmolive in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.06.

About Colgate-Palmolive

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.