Colgate share price: Brokerages revise stance post-Q4 results; what should investors do?

Colgate shares will be in focus on Thursday (May 16) after numerous brokerages revised their stance on the stock. The revision came soon after the company reported its Q4FY24 numbers, on Tuesday after market hours. 

Brokerage view on Colgate Palmolive

Global brokerage CLSA maintained a 'sell' rating and raised the target to Rs 2,228 from Rs 2,108 apiece. Similarly, Goldman Sachs continued with 'sell' and raised the target to Rs 2,150 from Rs 1,900 apiece. 

Meanwhile, JP Morgan maintained a 'neutral' stance and raised the target to Rs 2,750 from Rs 2,400 apiece.  Additionally, Jefferies iterated a 'buy' and raised the target to Rs 3,020 from Rs 2,930 apiece. 

HSBC downgraded to 'hold' from 'buy' and cut target to Rs 2,900 from Rs 2,950 apiece. 

How did Colgate fare in Q4?

Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd reported a 20.1 per cent increase in profit after tax (PAT) to Rs 379.8 crore in the March quarter.

The company had posted a PAT of Rs 316.2 crore in the same quarter a year ago, Colgate-Palmolive (India) said in a regulatory filing.

The company's net sales in the quarter under review increased to Rs 1,480.7 crore from Rs 1,341.7 crore in the same period a year ago, it added.

The company maintained sequential growth momentum in the fourth quarter of FY24 on the back of strong performance in toothpaste.

Rural markets continued to exhibit positive signs of demand recovery, growing ahead of urban, the company said.

It continued to invest in brand building with an increase in advertising spend by 18 per cent in the fourth quarter as compared to the previous year's quarter, the filing said.

For the fiscal ended March 31, PAT grew 26.4 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1,323.7 crore from Rs 1,047.1 crore in the previous year, Colgate-Palmolive (India) said.

In FY24 net sales grew 8.8 per cent to Rs 5,644.2 crore from Rs 5,187.9 crore in FY23, it added.

Led by double-digit growth in the toothpaste category, the company delivered domestic growth of 9.5 per cent.

Management commentary

On the outlook, Narasimhan said, "In the coming year, we are optimistic about seeing the market recovery, the continued strengthening of our very strong brand and a robust innovation pipeline, starting with a first of its kind 'Tooth Whitening Booster' under the 'Visible White' range." The company's board has declared a second interim dividend of Rs 26 per share of Re 1 each.

Colgate dividend 

In addition, the board has also declared a one-time special interim dividend of Rs 10 per share in view of the "excellent performance" for 2023-24. The dividend payout to the shareholders will be Rs 979.2 crore, the filing said.

Also Read: Rs 36/share dividend: Should you buy, sell or hold Colgate Palmolive shares post-Q4 result?

Colgate share price: Past performance 

In a year, shares of Colgate have given a return of 17 per cent against Nifty50's rise of over 21 per cent.

Catch all the updates of the May 16 session on Dalal Street here. For all other news related to business, politics, tech and auto, visit Zeebiz.com.