Procter & Gamble’s (PG) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at DA Davidson

DA Davidson restated their buy rating on shares of Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $209.00 target price on the stock.

PG has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $190.00 to $176.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.25.

Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

PG stock opened at $166.20 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $391.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.46, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.45. Procter & Gamble has a twelve month low of $152.06 and a twelve month high of $180.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.38.

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

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $1.0065 per share. This represents a $4.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.17%.

Insider Activity at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $2,210,944.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,595 shares in the company, valued at $2,002,804.35. This represents a 52.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 39,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,189,463.68. This represents a 54.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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

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

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.