Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan Invests $7.30 Million in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL)

Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 80,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,295,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 12,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,096,000 after acquiring an additional 1,072 shares in the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 3,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 32,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,974,000 after purchasing an additional 3,187 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,338,000. Finally, Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $625,000. Institutional investors own 80.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CL shares. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $111.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $89.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Colgate-Palmolive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.67.

Colgate-Palmolive Price Performance

CL opened at $93.99 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $76.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.70, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $90.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.57. Colgate-Palmolive has a twelve month low of $85.32 and a twelve month high of $109.30.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a $0.52 dividend. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.09%.

Colgate-Palmolive declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 20th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.