Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) Sets New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Procter & Gamble Company (The) (NYSE:PG) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $167.86 and last traded at $167.6110, with a volume of 4,262,512 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $162.06.

Trending Headlines about Procter & Gamble

Here are the key news stories impacting Procter & Gamble this week:

• Positive Sentiment: P&G has raised its dividend for 70 consecutive years. Its quarterly payout is about $1.09 per share, equivalent to an indicated yield of roughly 2.6%, supporting its appeal to income-focused investors. Article: P&G dividend history and yield
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage describes investors rotating toward consumer-staples stocks as technology shares weaken. That defensive-sector interest may help underpin demand for P&G, though the comparison with Coca-Cola focuses on income appeal rather than a specific new company catalyst. Article: Coca-Cola versus P&G
• Neutral Sentiment: P&G will webcast its November 19 Investor Day, when executives are expected to discuss strategy and the company’s long-term transformation. Investors may look for more detail on growth plans and execution. Article: P&G Investor Day webcast
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Andre Schulten sold 33,624 shares for about $5.55 million, reducing his direct holding by approximately 34%. Insider sales can raise concerns, although they do not by themselves establish a change in the company’s outlook. Article: CFO share sale
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research made mixed earnings-estimate changes, including cuts to several FY2027 and FY2028 quarterly forecasts and a slight reduction to its FY2027 estimate. It raised some later-period estimates, including FY2029, but the nearer-term revisions could temper optimism. Reference: P&G analyst estimates

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PG shares. Evercore upgraded shares of Procter & Gamble from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $166.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Argus lowered shares of Procter & Gamble from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $161.00 price target on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $152.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.57.

Procter & Gamble Stock Down 1.1%

The stock has a market cap of $383.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.90, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.36. The business’s 50 day moving average is $151.56 and its 200-day moving average is $149.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $23.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.80 billion. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 18.23% and a return on equity of 31.02%. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.99 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 23rd will be issued a dividend of $1.0885 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 23rd. This represents a $4.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Procter & Gamble’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.51%.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, CAO Matthew Janzaruk sold 9,479 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.00, for a total value of $1,545,077.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,173. The trade was a 88.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Raman sold 38,253 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $6,311,745.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 47,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,877,925. The trade was a 44.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 161,709 shares of company stock valued at $26,244,058. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Procter & Gamble

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PG. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Procter & Gamble during the second quarter valued at $27,862,105,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,850,628,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,281,505,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,480,650,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new position in shares of Procter & Gamble in the 2nd quarter valued at about $335,908,000. 65.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Procter & Gamble