UBS Group began coverage on shares of Energizer (NYSE:ENR) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, July 19th, www.benzinga.com reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock.
Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on ENR. ValuEngine upgraded Energizer from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 26th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Energizer from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, June 29th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Energizer from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 16th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Energizer from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 3rd. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Energizer from a c rating to a b- rating in a research report on Monday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Energizer presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $66.30.
NYSE:ENR traded up $2.77 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $65.00. The stock had a trading volume of 643,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 753,284. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.43, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.37. Energizer has a 12-month low of $40.64 and a 12-month high of $65.57. The company has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.82.
Energizer (NYSE:ENR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.54. Energizer had a return on equity of 359.49% and a net margin of 6.98%. The business had revenue of $392.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $389.13 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. analysts anticipate that Energizer will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 15th. Energizer’s dividend payout ratio is 38.93%.
In related news, VP Mark Stephen Lavigne sold 12,484 shares of Energizer stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.08, for a total transaction of $812,458.72. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 22,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,457,401.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Emily K. Boss sold 7,500 shares of Energizer stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $472,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $139,104. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,794 shares of company stock valued at $1,532,609 in the last three months. 1.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Paloma Partners Management Co lifted its stake in Energizer by 154.0% during the fourth quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 5,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 14,414 shares during the last quarter. Amundi Pioneer Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Energizer in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,598,000. Stone Ridge Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Energizer in the 4th quarter valued at about $736,000. Macquarie Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Energizer by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 91,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,392,000 after acquiring an additional 21,851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $57,774,000 after acquiring an additional 470,010 shares during the last quarter. 99.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.