Consumer products maker Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) dropped the best part of two percentage points last week to go into the weekend as the worst-performing Dow Jones industrial average stock of 2018. Shares dropped 1.8% last week, and for the year to date, the stock is down 10.9%.
The second-worst Dow stock so far this year is Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), which is down 10.3%. That is followed by 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM), down 9.7%, Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), down 8.5%, and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), down 8.2%. Of the 30 Dow stocks, 14 are showing a loss to date in 2018.
The blue-chip index dropped 38.28 points last week to close at 25,964.82, down about 0.2% compared to the previous Friday’s close. For the third quarter to date, the Dow is up 7.2%, better than the S&P 500 (up 5.8%) and the Nasdaq Composite (up 5.3%). For the year to date, the index is up 4.4%, trailing both the S&P 500 (up 6.5%) and the Nasdaq Composite (up 12.8%).
At the Barclays Global Consumer Staples Conference last week, P&G’s chief financial officer, Jon Moeller, indicated that the company remains in acquisition mode, including a move into the over-the-counter health care business. Moeller commented:
OTC healthcare [is] very attractive from a margin standpoint, from a growth standpoint, from a demographic standpoint, from a policy standpoint, and we’ll look at all tools available to continue to increase our presence in that space. … [T]here is a relative lack of true consumer brand-building acumen that’s brought to bear on many of these assets. And there’s also a distinct go-to-market advantage as health care consumption moves in some cases out of the prescription space into the OTC space …
More acquisitions mean more spending, and Moeller’s comments apparently influenced some investors to look for the exits. Shares opened Thursday at $82.91 and had lost a dollar by Friday’s closing bell.
P&G stock closed at $81.91 on Friday, down about 0.9% for the day, in a 52-week range of $70.73 to $94.67. The 12-month consensus price target on the stock is $83.08, and the forward price-to-earnings ratio is 17.39.
24/7 Wall St.Get Ready To Retire (Sponsored)
Start by taking a quick retirement quiz from SmartAsset that will match you with up to 3 financial advisors that serve your area and beyond in 5 minutes, or less.
Each advisor has been vetted by SmartAsset and is held to a fiduciary standard to act in your best interests.
Here’s how it works:
1. Answer SmartAsset advisor match quiz
2. Review your pre-screened matches at your leisure. Check out the advisors’ profiles.
3. Speak with advisors at no cost to you. Have an introductory call on the phone or introduction in person and choose whom to work with in the future
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.
You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.