Phocas Financial Corp. Decreases Stock Holdings in Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC)

Phocas Financial Corp. decreased its stake in shares of Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) by 5.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 116,441 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,212 shares during the period. Phocas Financial Corp. owned about 0.24% of Edgewell Personal Care worth $4,231,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Edgewell Personal Care in the second quarter worth about $53,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Edgewell Personal Care during the 2nd quarter valued at about $76,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Edgewell Personal Care during the 2nd quarter valued at about $84,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Edgewell Personal Care by 32.5% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.91% of the company’s stock.

Edgewell Personal Care Stock Performance

Edgewell Personal Care stock opened at $34.91 on Tuesday. Edgewell Personal Care Co has a 1-year low of $33.27 and a 1-year high of $41.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $35.53 and its 200 day moving average is $37.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.81 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $517.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $535.23 million. Edgewell Personal Care had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 4.38%. The business’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Edgewell Personal Care Co will post 3.21 EPS for the current year.

Edgewell Personal Care Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Edgewell Personal Care’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on EPC shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Edgewell Personal Care from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Edgewell Personal Care from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Edgewell Personal Care from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.40.

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.