Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Tuesday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on PG. Barclays increased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a neutral rating and a $168.00 target price on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $170.72.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.5 %

PG opened at $166.62 on Tuesday. Procter & Gamble has a 1 year low of $141.45 and a 1 year high of $169.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $165.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $158.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $393.25 billion, a PE ratio of 27.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.42.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.00% and a return on equity of 33.91%. The company had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Procter & Gamble will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 18th. This is a positive change from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is 65.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar G. Raman sold 31,924 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total value of $5,329,711.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 19,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,179,061.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Sundar G. Raman sold 31,924 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.95, for a total value of $5,329,711.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 19,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,179,061.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total transaction of $135,517.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $634,634. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 154,544 shares of company stock worth $25,413,051 over the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 9,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,322,000 after buying an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 3.7% in the third quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,273,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 124,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,172,000 after acquiring an additional 10,651 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 403,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,922,000 after purchasing an additional 69,964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $11,730,000. Institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, and SK-II brands.