Energizer (NYSE:ENR) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Energizer (NYSE:ENR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on ENR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Energizer from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Energizer from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays lowered Energizer from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Energizer from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Energizer from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Energizer presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.38.

Energizer Stock Performance

Shares of ENR stock opened at $31.54 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.10. Energizer has a one year low of $26.92 and a one year high of $39.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 39.92 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.17, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Energizer (NYSE:ENR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.03. Energizer had a return on equity of 168.16% and a net margin of 2.02%. The business had revenue of $731.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $726.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Energizer will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Energizer Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. Energizer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 151.90%.

Insider Transactions at Energizer

In other news, EVP Robin Vauth sold 4,070 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.16, for a total transaction of $155,311.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $374,998.32. This represents a 29.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sara B. Hampton sold 2,812 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.49, for a total value of $108,233.88. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $178,401.15. The trade was a 37.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,860 shares of company stock worth $334,694. 0.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Energizer by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 19,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Energizer by 86.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 768 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Energizer by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Energizer by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,058 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Energizer by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 9,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.74% of the company’s stock.

About Energizer

Energizer Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes household batteries, specialty batteries, and lighting products worldwide. It offers lithium, alkaline, carbon zinc, nickel metal hydride, zinc air, and silver oxide batteries under the Energizer, Eveready, and Rayovac brands; primary, rechargeable, specialty, and hearing aid batteries; and handheld, headlights, lanterns, and area lights, as well as flashlights under the Hard Case, Dolphin, and WeatherReady brands.