CL
Colgate-Palmolive Company
Consumer Defensive · Household & Personal Products · United States · Stock
Score Breakdown
Scored for Dividend Income profile
Sub-scores are 0–20 each; Model Score is weighted by your selected investment goal. How it works →
Why Ranked Here
- The model score of 43.1 is anchored by the profitability sub-score of 15.6, which is the single largest contributor and reflects Colgate-Palmolive's well-documented margin structure and return on assets as captured in the FY2025 10-K filing.
- The dividend sub-score of 8.8 contributes meaningfully and is consistent with the company's best-fit goal profile of dividend income, where it scores 47.7 — higher than its composite score — indicating that its income-generation credentials are its most defensible filing-derived attribute.
- The combination of a low growth sub-score (6.0), a below-midpoint financial health sub-score (8.0), and a zero theme sub-score (0.0) collectively suppress the total score well below 50, preventing this research candidate from reaching a higher tier despite its profitability strength.
Why Not Higher
- The theme sub-score of 0.0 is a significant ceiling on the total model score because it means none of the macro thematic exposures tracked by the scoring framework were identified in the filing data, removing up to 20 potential points from the composite and leaving the model score structurally capped.
- The growth sub-score of 6.0 reflects insufficient YoY improvement in revenue, net income, and EPS in the FY2025 10-K to move the needle in the scoring model, and without a recovery in top-line and bottom-line growth trajectories, the composite score is unlikely to improve materially under the current model version.
Data Confidence
10 / 10
Very High — full data coverage
Research Summary
AI-generated analysis reflects data and conditions as of the report date shown above. Verify any specific figures through primary sources before acting on this analysis.
Colgate-Palmolive Company is a global consumer staples company headquartered in New York, best known for its oral care, personal care, home care, and pet nutrition products sold under brands including Colgate, Palmolive, Hill's Pet Nutrition, and Softsoap. The company operates across more than 200 countries and territories, making it one of the most geographically diversified consumer goods businesses in the world. Its FY2025 10-K filing provides the full dataset used in this model. The model scored Colgate-Palmolive 43.1 out of 100, a result shaped by a modestly strong profitability sub-score of 15.6 — reflecting meaningful net and operating margins and reasonable return on assets — alongside a dividend sub-score of 8.8, consistent with a long dividend payment streak and free cash flow coverage of distributions. However, these strengths are offset by a low growth sub-score of 6.0, indicating limited YoY expansion in revenue, net income, and EPS as reported in the 10-K filing, a constrained financial health sub-score of 8.0 pointing to elevated leverage and weaker interest coverage relative to model thresholds, and a theme sub-score of 0.0, meaning the filing-derived data mapped to no macro thematic exposures tracked by the model. The key research tradeoff for CL is between a resilient profitability and dividend profile typical of large-cap consumer staples operators and the structural headwinds of slow organic growth, a heavily leveraged balance sheet, and a lack of thematic tailwinds that would otherwise justify a higher composite score.
Plain English
Colgate-Palmolive makes everyday products like toothpaste, soap, and pet food that billions of people use around the world. A model score of 43.1 out of 100 and a High risk rating means the model found real strengths — particularly in profitability and dividend consistency — but also significant concerns around slow growth, high debt, and no macro theme tailwinds captured from its filings. For a researcher focused on dividend income, this company scores its best at 47.7 in that profile, but the overall picture still carries meaningful risk that the model flags with a 'Monitor Only' label.
Bull Case vs. Bear Case
Bull Case
- The profitability sub-score of 15.6 out of 20 is the strongest component in the model, reflecting Colgate-Palmolive's ability to maintain meaningful net margins, operating margins, and return on assets across a highly competitive consumer goods landscape as reported in the FY2025 10-K.
- The dividend sub-score of 8.8 reflects a documented streak of dividend-per-share payments, positive free cash flow coverage of distributions, and measurable DPS growth CAGR, all derived from the SEC filing, making this a research candidate of interest for dividend income-oriented analysis.
- The momentum sub-score of 8.4 suggests that on a quarterly basis, the company demonstrated some improvement in revenue, earnings, or margins within the filing period, indicating the business is not in a state of sequential deterioration despite its lower growth headline number.
Bear Case
- The growth sub-score of 6.0 out of 20 is the weakest non-zero component in the model, indicating that YoY revenue, net income, and EPS expansion as reported in the FY2025 10-K were insufficient to register meaningfully in the scoring model, signaling a structurally slow-growth business.
- The financial health sub-score of 8.0 out of 20 reflects elevated leverage and constrained interest coverage ratios as derived from the balance sheet and income statement in the 10-K, which represents a material risk in an environment of sustained higher financing costs.
- The theme sub-score of 0.0 means the model found no macro thematic exposure from the filing data — such as AI infrastructure, energy transition, or reshoring — leaving the company without any scoring uplift from structural tailwinds that are rewarding higher-scoring peers in the current model framework.
What Could Change the Picture
Bullish Triggers
- A sustained and material improvement in the growth sub-score — driven by accelerating YoY revenue and EPS growth as reported in future 10-K filings — would be the most direct path to a higher composite model score and a potential upgrade from 'Monitor Only' status.
- Demonstrated deleveraging on the balance sheet leading to a higher financial health sub-score would reduce the risk profile assigned to this research candidate and could push the composite score meaningfully above the current 43.1 level.
Bearish Triggers
- A compression in net or operating margins in a future 10-K filing that erodes the current profitability sub-score of 15.6 would remove the primary scoring pillar holding the composite model score at 43.1, likely resulting in a lower score and reinforced 'Monitor Only' or worse classification.
- Any reduction in free cash flow coverage of dividends — reflected in a declining dividend sub-score — would weaken the company's strongest research case, which is its dividend income profile, and would undermine the only goal profile where it scores above its composite total.
Red Flags
- The financial health sub-score of 8.0 is below the midpoint of the 0-20 scale, with leverage and interest coverage metrics derived from the 10-K suggesting the balance sheet carries meaningful debt relative to earnings, which warrants ongoing monitoring especially given limited growth to offset debt service obligations.
- A growth sub-score of 6.0 combined with a total model score of 43.1 means Colgate-Palmolive's composite ranking is heavily dependent on profitability and dividend components rather than business expansion, creating a fragile score profile if margins compress or dividend coverage deteriorates.
- The 'Monitor Only' research label assigned by the model at 10.0/10 confidence indicates the scoring system has high certainty in this assessment, meaning the current filing data does not present a pathway to a higher research tier without material fundamental improvement.
Risk Profile
High RiskThe High risk rating for Colgate-Palmolive reflects the combination of elevated balance sheet leverage captured in the financial health sub-score of 8.0 and a slow-growth operating profile with a growth sub-score of 6.0, meaning the company has limited financial flexibility to absorb external shocks or competitive pressures without impacting its dividend coverage or margin structure.
Key Catalysts to Watch
The key filing-derived catalysts to monitor for Colgate-Palmolive are any changes to its leverage trajectory and interest coverage ratios in future 10-K filings, as well as whether the company can generate sufficient organic revenue and earnings growth to improve its growth sub-score from its current low level of 6.0.
This report is for educational and research purposes only. It does not constitute financial, investment, legal, or tax advice — always conduct your own due diligence before making investment decisions.