Cincinnati, Ohio-based Procter & Gamble Company (PG) is the world’s largest consumer packaged goods company. With a market cap of $388.8 billion, Procter & Gamble operates through Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric & Home Care, and Baby, Feminine & Family Care segments.
Over the past 52 weeks, Procter & Gamble has underperformed the broader market. PG stock is up 12.7% on a YTD basis and 10.4% over the past 52 weeks trailing behind the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 20.1% gains in 2024 and 35.2% returns over the past year.
Narrowing the focus, Procter & Gamble has also lagged behind the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund’s (XLP) 18.2% gains over the past year. However, it has slightly outpaced XLP’s 11.3% returns on a YTD basis.
Shares of Procter & Gamble experienced a marginal drop after the release of its mixed Q1 earnings on Oct. 18. The company observed a 61 basis points drop in net sales to $21.7 billion compared to the year-ago quarter, falling short of Wall Street’s expectations. While reporting a 5.5% growth in core EPS to $1.93, exceeding the consensus estimates by 1.6%, driven by favorable pricing and productivity savings.
Forex headwinds have been one of the major factors affecting the company's topline performance over the past quarters. On a positive note, Procter & Gamble observed 2% year-over-year growth in organic sales when adjusted for currency fluctuations.
For the current fiscal year, ending in June 2025, analysts expect PG to report 5.3% year-over-year growth in adjusted EPS, reaching $6.94. Moreover, the company has a robust earnings surprise history, surpassing Wall Street's bottom-line estimates in each of the past four quarters.
Procter & Gamble stock has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating overall. Among the 28 analysts covering the stock, 15 recommend a “Strong Buy,” two advise a “Moderate Buy,” and 11 suggest a “Hold” rating.
This configuration is slightly less bullish than when 16 analysts recommended a “Strong Buy” rating two months ago.
On Oct. 21, Morgan Stanley (MS) analyst Dara Mohsenian maintained an “Overweight” rating while raising the price target to $191, implying a potential upside of 15.7% from current levels.
The mean price target of $180.11 represents a premium of 9.1% to current price levels, while the Street-high target of $200 suggests a potential upside of 21.1%.
On the date of publication, Aditya Sarawgi did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
