Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) Stock Rating Upgraded by 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 Tuesday morning.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price target on Edgewell Personal Care from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Edgewell Personal Care from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $42.50.

Edgewell Personal Care Price Performance

NYSE:EPC opened at $39.86 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.68 and a beta of 0.88. Edgewell Personal Care has a 52-week low of $33.71 and a 52-week high of $42.15. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.36.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $599.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $606.74 million. Edgewell Personal Care had a return on equity of 9.29% and a net margin of 5.40%. The business’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Edgewell Personal Care will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Edgewell Personal Care Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. Edgewell Personal Care’s payout ratio is currently 25.10%.

Institutional Trading of Edgewell Personal Care

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Edgewell Personal Care by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 673,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,072,000 after purchasing an additional 101,533 shares during the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Edgewell Personal Care during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $207,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Edgewell Personal Care by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 7,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Edgewell Personal Care by 32.5% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC acquired a new stake in Edgewell Personal Care during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $281,000. 91.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.