Clarkston Capital Partners LLC Sells 697,972 Shares of Energizer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ENR)

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Energizer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ENR) by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,077,205 shares of the company’s stock after selling 697,972 shares during the period. Energizer makes up about 2.7% of Clarkston Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Energizer worth $142,254,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Energizer by 86.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 768 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Energizer during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Energizer in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Energizer by 94.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 753 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in Energizer by 750.0% during the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 1,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.74% of the company’s stock.

Energizer Price Performance

Shares of Energizer stock opened at $28.41 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.10. Energizer Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.92 and a twelve month high of $39.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.97 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.17.

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

Energizer Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.22%. Energizer’s payout ratio is 151.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ENR shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on Energizer from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of Energizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Energizer from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of Energizer in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Energizer from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.88.

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.