Energizer (NYSE:ENR) was downgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Monday.
According to Zacks, “Although shares of Energizer have outpaced the industry in the past three months, the stock may derail in the near term. Analysts pointed that this may be due to two factors, margins and high debt level. The company has been grappling with waning margins since the last few quarters. We note that gross margin contracted 180 bps in second-quarter fiscal 2018. Further, soft guidance for the same, along with high debt-to-capital ratio add to the woes. The company had debt-to-capital ratio of 95.6% in the reported quarter. However, robust earnings and sales trend on account of ongoing portfolio optimization pricing actions across the globe cannot be ignored. Further, the company continues to gain from solid execution against its strategic priorities that include leading with innovation, operating with excellence and driving productivity. Additionally, the company’s acquisition strategy remains a key contributor for growth.”
Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on ENR. Bank of America lifted their target price on Energizer from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 12th. TheStreet raised Energizer from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Monday, June 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Energizer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 1st. ValuEngine raised Energizer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank downgraded Energizer from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.30.
Shares of Energizer opened at $61.71 on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 21.86, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.85. Energizer has a 1-year low of $40.64 and a 1-year high of $64.00.
Energizer (NYSE:ENR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $374.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $374.32 million. Energizer had a return on equity of 292.85% and a net margin of 7.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. research analysts forecast that Energizer will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.
In other news, VP Susan K. Drath sold 13,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.27, for a total value of $879,706.08. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 22,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,415,160.09. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ENR. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Energizer in the 1st quarter worth $181,490,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Energizer by 94.1% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 969,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,774,000 after acquiring an additional 470,010 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Energizer by 11.3% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,070,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,501,000 after acquiring an additional 412,293 shares during the last quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Energizer by 79.3% in the 1st quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. now owns 836,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,813,000 after acquiring an additional 369,746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Energizer by 375.0% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 427,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,509,000 after acquiring an additional 337,457 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.28% of the company’s stock.
