Short Interest in Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) Declines By 10.2%

Edgewell Personal Care Co (NYSE:EPC) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,030,000 shares, a drop of 10.2% from the November 15th total of 2,260,000 shares. Currently, 4.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 423,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Edgewell Personal Care

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new stake in Edgewell Personal Care in the second quarter worth $33,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Edgewell Personal Care in the third quarter worth $48,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Edgewell Personal Care in the second quarter worth $53,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Edgewell Personal Care in the second quarter worth $76,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Edgewell Personal Care during the second quarter valued at $84,000. 91.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Edgewell Personal Care Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of EPC stock traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $35.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 359,638 shares, compared to its average volume of 400,138. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.88 and a beta of 0.88. Edgewell Personal Care has a one year low of $33.27 and a one year high of $41.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE:EPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $517.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $535.23 million. Edgewell Personal Care had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 4.38%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Edgewell Personal Care will post 3.21 EPS for the current year.

Edgewell Personal Care Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. Edgewell Personal Care’s payout ratio is 30.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on EPC shares. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Edgewell Personal Care from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays reduced their price target on Edgewell Personal Care from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Edgewell Personal Care from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Edgewell Personal Care currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.40.

About Edgewell Personal Care

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.