Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) Short Interest Up 6.5% in August

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,700,000 shares, a growth of 6.5% from the August 15th total of 8,170,000 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 4,050,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Panagiotis Tsourapas sold 14,794 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.94, for a total value of $1,522,894.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $529,729.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Panagiotis Tsourapas sold 14,794 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.94, for a total transaction of $1,522,894.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,146 shares in the company, valued at $529,729.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Sally Massey sold 15,850 shares of Colgate-Palmolive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.28, for a total value of $1,636,988.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,439,929.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 43,490 shares of company stock worth $4,486,063 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Colgate-Palmolive

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Union Savings Bank grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 76.6% in the 4th quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. PSI Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 4,971.4% in the 1st quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 46.5% in the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Core Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Colgate-Palmolive by 56.6% during the 4th quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 404 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. 80.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Colgate-Palmolive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $109.00 in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $103.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.79.

Colgate-Palmolive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CL traded down $0.67 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $102.51. 556,407 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,298,233. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1-year low of $67.62 and a 1-year high of $109.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.90, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.65, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $102.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $95.61.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.04. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 470.19% and a net margin of 14.21%. The firm had revenue of $5.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Colgate-Palmolive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. Colgate-Palmolive’s dividend payout ratio is 63.29%.

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.