Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on EPC. Barclays decreased their price objective on Edgewell Personal Care from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Edgewell Personal Care from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $41.80.

Edgewell Personal Care Stock Up 3.1 %

Edgewell Personal Care stock opened at $37.48 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $39.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.55. Edgewell Personal Care has a 1-year low of $33.71 and a 1-year high of $41.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.68 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.21. Edgewell Personal Care had a return on equity of 9.92% and a net margin of 5.26%. The business had revenue of $647.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $649.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Edgewell Personal Care will post 3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Edgewell Personal Care Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. Edgewell Personal Care’s payout ratio is 25.10%.

Institutional Trading of Edgewell Personal Care

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Duality Advisers LP lifted its stake in Edgewell Personal Care by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 31,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,233,000 after buying an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 82.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 2.8% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 20,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $886,000 after acquiring an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 6.1% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 10,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 32.5% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.91% of the company’s stock.

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.