The Dividend Daily

Morgan Stanley reported on Friday that it has downgraded consumer products company, Colgate-Palmolive Company (CL).

The firm has lowered its rating on CL from “Overweight” to “Equal-weight,” and has removed its $121 price target.

An analyst from the firm commented, “we are downgrading CL to EW as we believe after recent multiple expansion (from 18x NTM PE in Dec to its current 20x NTM PE), CL’s premium valuation increasingly reflects LT advantages vs. peers. […] Colgate now trades at a 12% NTM P/E premium vs. large-cap peers, which is one standard deviation above its 10-year historical relative P/E average, after experiencing the highest YTD multiple expansion. We view this premium valuation as fair, and also believe topline risk vs. company guidance, while well understood, will likely limit further stock upside.”

Colgate-Palmolive shares were down -$1.36, or -1.19% during Friday morning trading. The stock has increased 18% in the past year.

The Bottom Line
Shares of Colgate-Palmolive Company (CL) have a 2.42% yield, based on Friday morning’s price of $112.51.

Colgate-Palmolive Company (CL) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars.

Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks, as well as a detailed explanation of our ratings system here.