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

Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $42.40.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Edgewell Personal Care from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays cut their price target on Edgewell Personal Care from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th.

Edgewell Personal Care Stock Performance

NYSE:EPC opened at $34.98 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.85 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50-day moving average of $35.63 and a 200-day moving average of $37.98. Edgewell Personal Care has a twelve month low of $33.27 and a twelve month high of $41.50.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $517.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $535.23 million. Edgewell Personal Care had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 9.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. Analysts forecast that Edgewell Personal Care will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Edgewell Personal Care Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Edgewell Personal Care’s payout ratio is presently 30.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Edgewell Personal Care

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 63.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 664,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,163,000 after acquiring an additional 259,200 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 19.7% during the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,529,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,545,000 after acquiring an additional 252,235 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care in the third quarter valued at $6,128,000. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in Edgewell Personal Care by 16.6% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,071,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,058,000 after buying an additional 152,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestrel Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,855,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.91% of the company’s stock.

Edgewell Personal Care Company Profile

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.