Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms Sector Perform Rating for Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG)

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $164.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target indicates a potential downside of 0.86% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on PG. UBS Group cut their target price on Procter & Gamble from $196.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $174.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Procter & Gamble from $186.00 to $181.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Procter & Gamble from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.25.

Procter & Gamble Price Performance

Shares of PG stock traded up $0.68 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $165.42. The stock had a trading volume of 2,390,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,546,473. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $168.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.38. Procter & Gamble has a one year low of $152.06 and a one year high of $180.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $389.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.52, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.02. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.07% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The firm had revenue of $21.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21,657,595.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. Procter & Gamble’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Procter & Gamble will post 6.92 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $2,210,944.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,002,804.35. This represents a 52.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary A. Coombe sold 47,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.84, for a total transaction of $8,604,804.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,977 shares in the company, valued at $7,189,463.68. The trade was a 54.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Procter & Gamble

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiera Capital Corp raised its position in Procter & Gamble by 1,135.1% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 20,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,412,000 after purchasing an additional 19,013 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 67,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,145,000 after buying an additional 3,006 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 11.1% in the second quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 566,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,408,000 after buying an additional 56,456 shares in the last quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC acquired a new position in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter worth $526,000. Finally, Delta Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 22,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,636,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Procter & Gamble Company Profile

Procter & Gamble Co engages in the provision of branded consumer packaged goods. It operates through the following segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric and Home Care, and Baby, Feminine and Family Care. The Beauty segment offers hair, skin, and personal care. The Grooming segment consists of shave care like female and male blades and razors, pre and post shave products, and appliances.