BNP Paribas Initiates Coverage on Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG)

BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) in a research note published on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $187.00 price objective on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com downgraded Procter & Gamble from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a neutral rating and a $168.00 target price on the stock. Argus increased their target price on Procter & Gamble from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Truist Financial upgraded Procter & Gamble from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $172.00 to $171.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $170.72.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PG opened at $167.37 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $165.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $158.47. Procter & Gamble has a 1-year low of $141.45 and a 1-year high of $169.41. The firm has a market cap of $395.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 33.91% and a net margin of 18.00%. The business had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Procter & Gamble will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th were issued a $1.0065 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. This is an increase from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is currently 65.85%.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total value of $4,581,309.81. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at $1,858,265.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 28,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.49, for a total transaction of $4,581,309.81. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,858,265.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 855 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.50, for a total value of $135,517.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,004 shares in the company, valued at approximately $634,634. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 154,544 shares of company stock worth $25,413,051. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,608,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,193,916,000 after acquiring an additional 3,047,557 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,956,117,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,209,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,336,552,000 after acquiring an additional 206,165 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,170,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,629,299,000 after acquiring an additional 346,925 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,556,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,547,021,000 after acquiring an additional 559,358 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

About Procter & Gamble

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, and SK-II brands.