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

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fifteen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $178.52.

PG has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $181.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $180.00 price objective on Procter & Gamble and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Procter & Gamble from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $164.00 to $177.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered Procter & Gamble from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Moses Victor Javier Aguilar sold 10,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.67, for a total transaction of $1,669,208.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 25,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,995,627.94. This represents a 29.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.66, for a total value of $3,089,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 22,051 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,274.66. This represents a 44.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 64,520 shares of company stock valued at $10,999,268 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 14.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,734,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $820,031,000 after buying an additional 608,168 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 141,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,760,000 after buying an additional 11,677 shares during the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,855,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at $958,000. Finally, Birch Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble in the fourth quarter valued at $92,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 1.4%

Procter & Gamble stock opened at $158.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $372.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.27, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.41. Procter & Gamble has a 1-year low of $156.58 and a 1-year high of $180.43. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $165.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.43.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.01. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.00% and a net margin of 18.35%. The firm had revenue of $19.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Procter & Gamble will post 6.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 21st will be given a $1.0568 dividend. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 21st. This represents a $4.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

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.