Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.10 EPS

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) announced its earnings results on Friday. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.10, Briefing.com reports. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.60% and a return on equity of 34.04%. The business had revenue of $20.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Procter & Gamble updated its FY 2024 guidance to 6.490-6.550 EPS.

Procter & Gamble Trading Up 0.5 %

PG stock traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $158.14. The stock had a trading volume of 12,034,186 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,329,782. The firm has a market cap of $372.11 billion, a PE ratio of 25.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Procter & Gamble has a 12-month low of $141.45 and a 12-month high of $163.14. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $159.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.97.

Procter & Gamble Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $1.0065 dividend. This is a boost from Procter & Gamble’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Procter & Gamble’s payout ratio is presently 65.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO R. Alexandra Keith sold 776 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total value of $122,693.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,256.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Procter & Gamble news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 74,443 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.30, for a total value of $11,412,111.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,160.90. 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 776 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.11, for a total transaction of $122,693.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,256.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 279,063 shares of company stock valued at $43,187,745. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 96,526.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,535,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,840,449,000 after acquiring an additional 38,495,676 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble during the 4th quarter valued at $3,752,321,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,320,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,717,246,000 after acquiring an additional 4,959,527 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 20,619,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,021,573,000 after acquiring an additional 4,426,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 118.1% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,334,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $961,170,000 after acquiring an additional 3,429,929 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PG. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Procter & Gamble from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $169.00 to $162.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.53.

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.