William Blair Investment Management LLC Purchases 253,014 Shares of Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC)

William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC - Free Report) by 40.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 878,390 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 253,014 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 1.81% of Edgewell Personal Care worth $29,514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its stake in Edgewell Personal Care by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,041,665 shares of the company's stock worth $68,600,000 after acquiring an additional 355,224 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Edgewell Personal Care by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,130,160 shares of the company's stock worth $41,078,000 after acquiring an additional 6,964 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Edgewell Personal Care by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 817,042 shares of the company's stock worth $27,453,000 after acquiring an additional 38,353 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Edgewell Personal Care by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 750,369 shares of the company's stock worth $25,122,000 after acquiring an additional 85,467 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Edgewell Personal Care by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 669,914 shares of the company's stock worth $24,345,000 after acquiring an additional 39,059 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.91% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Edgewell Personal Care from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Edgewell Personal Care from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays reduced their target price on Edgewell Personal Care from $33.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Edgewell Personal Care from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Edgewell Personal Care from $53.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Edgewell Personal Care currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $36.57.

Edgewell Personal Care Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EPC traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $29.37. 1,100,995 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 420,129. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Edgewell Personal Care Co has a twelve month low of $26.65 and a twelve month high of $41.50. The company has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a PE ratio of 16.05 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.09.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.06). Edgewell Personal Care had a net margin of 4.09% and a return on equity of 9.29%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Edgewell Personal Care Co will post 3.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Edgewell Personal Care Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Edgewell Personal Care's payout ratio is presently 32.79%.

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.