With over 170 years of "touching lives and improving life" across the globe, Procter & Gamble (PG) continues to provide consumers with quality beauty and personal care products. Headquartered in Cincinnati, P&G draws around 41% of its sales from North America, with Western Europe contributing another 21% to its total sales. P&G competes with companies like Unilever (UL), L'Oreal, Colgate-Palmolive (CL) and Kimberly Clark (KMB) and is one of the stocks that scores the best in our cash conversion analysis included below.

Continue reading Proctor & Gamble's Cash Flow Bests Peers, Justifies 20% Upside

Proctor & Gamble's Cash Flow Bests Peers, Justifies 20% Upside originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A lot has been written about the slow pace of economic recovery in the U.S. with unemployment levels at close to historical highs at 9.4% (as of December 2010) set in contrast to the feverish growth of emerging markets. It then comes as no surprise that most of the big players in the beauty and personal care industry such as L'Oreal (LRLCY), Estee Lauder (EL), Revlon (REV), Avon (AVP), Procter & Gamble (PG), Unilever (UL), Colgate (CL) and Kimberly Clark (KMB) are increasing their presence in growing markets like China, India and Latin America.

Continue reading Investing in Beauty and Personal Care? Look for Cash!

Investing in Beauty and Personal Care? Look for Cash! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Options Update: Procter & Gamble Active originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I first wrote about Colgate-Palmolive (CL), on April 13, 2009, at a price of $58.49. The shares have had an impressive run, and with the stock's recent retest of 2010 highs near $86, now may be good time to take some profits off the table.

However, those investors who can tolerate the risk can maintain their position in CL, in anticipation of even more gains.

Continue reading Colgate-Palmolive: Time to Take Some Profits off the Table?

Colgate-Palmolive: Time to Take Some Profits off the Table? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Investing in conservative stocks to build or rebuild the core of your portfolio makes sense right now; investors should buy companies that have a long history of steady earnings and dividend growth, through good times and tough times," says J. Royden Ward.

The editor of the specialty newsletter, Cabot Benjamin Graham Value Letter, explains, "The obvious benefit of adhering to a disciplined system of value investing like ours is that you build long-term profits and, ideally, financial independence.

Continue reading Ben Graham Values: Ten Conservative Growth and Income Ideas

Ben Graham Values: Ten Conservative Growth and Income Ideas originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Let's have a look at a few earnings reports from earlier in the week. We'll check out two businesses operating in the arena of consumer products -- Colgate-Palmolive (CL) and Procter & Gamble (PG) -- and one that is prospering from a crimson DVD-rental kiosk that has become all the rage -- Coinstar (CSTR).

We'll start with the latter concern first. Coinstar was one of Friday's great stock stories. It shot higher by 16%, backed by an incredible amount of volume. Investors are apparently counting on this one to go even higher. In fact, some analysts believe that the shares may eventually reach $60.

Continue reading More Quarterly Releases: Coinstar, Colgate, and Procter & Gamble

More Quarterly Releases: Coinstar, Colgate, and Procter & Gamble originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 01 May 2010 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Consider this: Just 7% of all Indians brush their teeth at least once a day. If you're thinking about personal hygiene, you're probably grossed out.

But if you're thinking about global investing you're seeing dollar signs. It means more than a billion Indians haven't yet begun a daily ritual that is already commonplace around the world!

Continue reading Colgate: An India Stock Seeing 50% Growth

Colgate: An India Stock Seeing 50% Growth originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 15 Apr 2010 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Hugo Chavez Racing Toward Economic Peril

Hugo Chavez Racing Toward Economic Peril originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks:

• Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) shares declined despite an earnings beat and a positive outlook
• Bank of America Corp. (BAC) reported that its Q4 loss widened more than expected by Wall Street.
• Capital One Financial Corp. (COF) reported better-than-expected earnings but shares declined.
• Colgate-Palmolive Co. (CL) is seen as on-track to record double-digit earnings growth in 2010.
• Cree Inc. (CREE) strong earnings and revenue growth sent shares to a new 52-week high.

Continue reading Earnings Highlights: Colgate, eBay, Goldman Sachs, Kimberley-Clark, Starbucks ...

Earnings Highlights: Colgate, eBay, Goldman Sachs, Kimberley-Clark, Starbucks ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 23 Jan 2010 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Looking for dividend-paying blue chip stocks? Chuck Carlson is a leading expert on dividend reinvestment plans.

In The DRIP Investor, he looks at the 10/10 Club -- stocks that have boosted their payouts by 10% a year for at least 10 years. He explains,"The table below features seven stocks that belong to the exclusive '10/10' club:

Continue reading The 10/10 Dividend Club

The 10/10 Dividend Club originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Colgate-Palmolive: Well-Positioned for the Recovery

Colgate-Palmolive: Well-Positioned for the Recovery originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yesterday I started a review of 25 companies that Fortune deemed most successful according to their peers in developing quality leadership. Today I review the remaining 20, searching to find the ones that might be worth investing in.

Price-to-book (from 11/27/09) was used as the first value screen. The theory being from a value investor's perspective that buying for a price at or near the break-up value of the company provides downside protection. Of course that is easier said than done.

Continue reading Serious Money: Fortune's 25 leaders, now 20

Serious Money: Fortune's 25 leaders, now 20 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The recent issue of Fortune magazine discusses how the best of the best train, guide and nurture top managers to become the leaders that will propel their corporations successfully forward. They list the top 25 companies, which I have used as the basis of a new review to see how they would fair against common metric screens.

In the past few months, many articles have posited that large-cap stocks should excel in the coming year based on their lagging the market behind smaller, more volatile stocks flying out of the March lows. I do not believe this is universally true. Plenty of large-cap stocks did well, such as Anadarko Petroleum (APC), Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG), while many small caps went nowhere. Even among the large caps included in Fortune's "Leadership 25," some have doubled.

Continue reading Serious Money: Fortune's 25 leaders among leaders

Serious Money: Fortune's 25 leaders among leaders originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Clorox (NYSE: CLX), a consumer-products business that counts Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) as related stocks, may have seen a sales drop of 1% in its fiscal first quarter, but that didn't stop it from posting a nice bottom-line growth rate. Clorox made $1.11 per share in Q1, and that represents a 23% increase. What a way to start a new corporate year!

According to Reuters, expectations were for 95 cents per share. That's a wonderful beat. Plus, sales volume went up 1%. Helping to drive things along was a healthy gross margin, as well as the dreaded H1N1 virus. Clorox has done well over the years associating its brand with sanitizing effectiveness, so when a pandemic rears its ugly head, the trademark is prepared to leverage such reputation to drive value.

Continue reading Clorox starts its new year off right

Clorox starts its new year off right originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Consumer spending had its largest fall this year, thanks to the end of the "Cash for Clunkers" program. And, incomes were flat. No change to the money coming in and a drop in the cash going out translates to an impediment to economic recovery.

In September, consumer spending fell 0.5%, the first decline in five months and the worst in nine. Wages and salaries dropped 0.2%, effectively offsetting the 0.2% up-tick in August. The economy did grow in the third quarter of 2009, hinting that the worst recession in 70 years may be coming to a close, but the tough September suggests we still have some work in front of us.

Continue reading Bad September, good Q3 for consumer spending, what's next?

Bad September, good Q3 for consumer spending, what's next? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) posted better-than-expected Q3 results, sending shares higher.
• AutoDesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) reported better-than-expected Q2 earnings, sending shares higher.
• Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI) had another disappointing quarter as same-store sales declined.
• CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) delayed its Q3 report due to ongoing debt restructuring and a possible bankruptcy.
• Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (NYSE: DPS) Q2 earnings came in well ahead of Wall Street expectations.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Blockbuster, Walmart, Applied Materials, ING, Priceline ...

Earnings highlights: Blockbuster, Walmart, Applied Materials, ING, Priceline ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 15 Aug 2009 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX), a famous supermarket brand similar to companies such as Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL), reported Q4 earnings today. Excluding certain factors, Clorox increased its per-share profit by 18% to $1.35.

The dollar continues to wreak havoc on companies with international exposure (there's a whole lot of them, of course). Including currency translations, Clorox's top line was flat. Without the effect (and excluding the impact of a private-label business that the company exited), sales increased 3%. The company utilized price increases to help offset the tough times. Unfortunately, volume decreased 2% during the quarter.

Continue reading Clorox increases prices -- and profit -- in Q4

Clorox increases prices -- and profit -- in Q4 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) reported strong Q2 earnings thought revenue fell but beat analysts' estimates.
• Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) beat Q2 earnings estimates but revenue suffered from currency effects.
• Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) reported a drop in Q2 revenue and a net loss on restructuring charges.
• Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) posted a deeper-than-expected Q2 net loss as sales plunged.
• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) reported its lowest quarterly profit in years, well short of expectations.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Verizon, RadioShack, MetLife, Kellogg, Exxon, Disney ...

Earnings highlights: Verizon, RadioShack, MetLife, Kellogg, Exxon, Disney ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 02 Aug 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL), whose colleagues at the supermarket include companies like Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Clorox (NYSE: CLX), did all right in the second quarter. Sales were inhibited by currency rates: they dropped by well over 5%. The bottom line, on the other hand, fared a lot better. The company made $1.07 per share compared to 92 cents per share in the year-ago period. However, the previous year's quarter had 6 cents of charges to take into account, so the adjusted earnings in 2008 actually comes out to 98 cents. This makes the growth rate a modest 9%. The market was expecting $1.05 per share according to Earnings.com, so management beat by two pennies.

I was surprised a little by how the stock sold off on Thursday after the earnings report. Shares of Colgate-Palmolive closed down over 5% on very active volume.

Continue reading Colgate-Palmolive beats estimates in Q2

Colgate-Palmolive beats estimates in Q2 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB), a consumer-products company that counts Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) as colleagues, announced Q2 results on Thursday. The performance wasn't spectacular, but management successfully defended the bottom line from the recession by instituting pricing strategies that leveraged the brand equity of the company's portfolio.

The bottom line fell, of course, but probably not as far as it would have if there weren't any pricing mechanisms in place. Earnings per share came in at 97 cents. This was six cents lower than last year's adjusted Q2 income. Revenues were challenged by dollar fluctuations, dropping well over 5%. However, here's the silver lining: organic sales increased almost 3%, even with volumes on the decline.

Continue reading Kimberly-Clark up on Q2 numbers

Kimberly-Clark up on Q2 numbers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.