Haleon (NYSE:HLN) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Shares of Haleon plc (NYSE:HLN - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $10.16, but opened at $10.55. Haleon shares last traded at $10.51, with a volume of 1,086,357 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on HLN shares. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Haleon from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Haleon from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley cut Haleon from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. HSBC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Haleon in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Haleon in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $10.95.

Haleon Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $44.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.24. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $10.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.84.

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Haleon (NYSE:HLN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter. Haleon had a return on equity of 14.76% and a net margin of 10.85%. The company had revenue of $3.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.38 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Haleon plc will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Haleon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a -- dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th will be issued a $0.1166 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Haleon's previous -- dividend of $0.05. This represents a dividend yield of 1.6%. Haleon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Haleon

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HLN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Haleon by 41.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 203,583 shares of the company's stock worth $2,154,000 after acquiring an additional 59,719 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in Haleon during the third quarter worth $805,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Haleon during the third quarter worth $133,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Haleon by 27.2% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 350,795 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,701,000 after acquiring an additional 74,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Haleon by 56.7% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,809 shares of the company's stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 12,595 shares during the period. 6.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Haleon Company Profile

Haleon plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of various consumer healthcare products in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides oral health products, such as toothpastes, mouth washes, and denture care products under the Sensodyne, Polident, Parodontax, Biotene brands; and vitamins, minerals, and supplements under Centrum, Emergen-C, Caltrate brands.