CL has a history of muted post-earnings reactions
Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) made news last month after announcing an increase to the quarterly common stock cash dividend, up to $0.45 per share, from the previous $0.44 per share. The increase will reportedly be effective in the second quarter of 2021, which will be paid on May 14 to shareholders of record as of April 21. The company’s forward dividend now stands at $1.80 with a dividend yield of 2.25%, versus $1.76 per share previously. Moreover, Colgate-Palmolive has paid uninterrupted dividends since 1895.
Colgate-Palmolive stock hasn't been able to take off much in 2021, and is down 6.7% year-to-date. The $74 level has served as a springboard in the last month, though the 100-day moving average has kept a lid on the recent breakout attempts. In the last 12 months though, CL is up 15%.
Colgate-Palmolive is also expected to report earnings later this month on April 30. So far, the company has outperformed earnings expectations on all four of their most recent earnings reports. However, the best post-earnings pop that came from it was a 2.9% rise on Oct. 30. Overall, CL averages a post-earnings move of 2.8% in the last eight quarters, regardless of direction.
Overall, Colgate-Palmolive stock has a lot of traits of a long-term winner. They've maintained consistent revenue and net income growth in recent years. Colgate-Palmolive stock also trades at a reasonable price-earnings ratio of 25.53 and had a forward price-earnings ratio of 24.15. Investors shouldn’t expect massive price appreciation, but may look forward to some gains, coupled with decent returns from a stable dividend. The only real negative mark for Colgate-Palmolive stock is in its balance sheet, which only has $925 million in cash versus $8.21 billion currently in debt.