Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the five ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.80.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Edgewell Personal Care from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Edgewell Personal Care from $36.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th.

Edgewell Personal Care Stock Down 3.1 %

EPC opened at $33.36 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.23. Edgewell Personal Care has a 52 week low of $31.20 and a 52 week high of $41.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of 17.02 and a beta of 0.89.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $517.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $535.23 million. Edgewell Personal Care had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 4.38%. The company’s revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Edgewell Personal Care will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Edgewell Personal Care Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Edgewell Personal Care’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Edgewell Personal Care

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EPC. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Edgewell Personal Care in the second quarter worth about $1,370,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $709,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 43.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 2,606 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Edgewell Personal Care in the second quarter worth $660,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 72.3% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 16,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $589,000 after buying an additional 6,800 shares in the last quarter. 91.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Edgewell Personal Care

Edgewell Personal Care Company is a manufacturer and marketer of personal care products in the wet shave, sun and skin care, feminine care and infant care categories. As of September 30, 2016, the Company had a portfolio of over 25 brands. It manages its business in four segments: Wet Shave, Sun and Skin Care, Feminine Care and All Other.