The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $180.53.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PG. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday.

Procter & Gamble Trading Down 1.0 %

PG opened at $164.41 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $387.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.37. Procter & Gamble has a 1-year low of $152.06 and a 1-year high of $180.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21,657,595.49 billion. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 32.88% and a net margin of 18.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. Analysts expect that Procter & Gamble will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total value of $8,604,804.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at $7,189,463.68. The trade was a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $2,210,944.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,002,804.35. The trade was a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PG. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Procter & Gamble during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Costello Asset Management INC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2,142.9% in the third quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 58.0% in the 4th quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. 65.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.