Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) Downgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

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

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $41.80.

Edgewell Personal Care Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EPC opened at $36.30 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $38.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.49. The company has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.19 and a beta of 0.87. Edgewell Personal Care has a 12 month low of $33.71 and a 12 month high of $41.50.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $649.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. Edgewell Personal Care’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Edgewell Personal Care will post 3 EPS for the current year.

Edgewell Personal Care Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. Edgewell Personal Care’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.10%.

Institutional Trading of Edgewell Personal Care

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Edgewell Personal Care by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,833,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,401,000 after purchasing an additional 29,217 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 0.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,620,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,524,000 after buying an additional 24,513 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 19.7% during the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,529,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,545,000 after acquiring an additional 252,235 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings 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 worth $43,058,000 after acquiring an additional 152,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Edgewell Personal Care by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 695,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,481,000 after acquiring an additional 8,312 shares in the last quarter. 91.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.