EMC Capital Management Buys 1,317 Shares of Energizer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ENR)

EMC Capital Management lifted its stake in Energizer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ENR) by 18.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,529 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,317 shares during the quarter. EMC Capital Management’s holdings in Energizer were worth $251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Energizer during the 4th quarter worth $16,559,000. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Energizer in the first quarter valued at about $5,174,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Energizer during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,629,000. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its position in Energizer by 197.4% during the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 159,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,041,000 after acquiring an additional 105,622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Energizer by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,378,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,115,000 after buying an additional 79,940 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.74% of the company’s stock.

Energizer Stock Performance

Shares of ENR traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $30.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 520,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 515,190. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.54. The company has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.70 and a beta of 1.05. Energizer Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.92 and a 52-week high of $37.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.86, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Energizer (NYSE:ENR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.05. Energizer had a return on equity of 119.16% and a net margin of 2.97%. The business had revenue of $663.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $664.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Energizer Holdings, Inc. will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energizer Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.92%. Energizer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Energizer from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Energizer from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Energizer from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Energizer from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Energizer from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $33.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.00.

Energizer Profile

Energizer Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes household batteries, specialty batteries, and lighting products worldwide. It offers lithium, alkaline, carbon zinc, nickel metal hydride, zinc air, and silver oxide batteries under the Energizer, Eveready, and Rayovac brands; primary, rechargeable, specialty, and hearing aid batteries; and handheld, headlights, lanterns, and area lights, as well as flashlights under the Hard Case, Dolphin, and WeatherReady brands.