Should I Buy EPC? EPC 2026 Analysis

Should You Buy Edgewell Personal Care Co (EPC) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Conclusion

Hold

Latest Price

19.390

1 Day change

2.65%

52 Week Range

33.820

Analysis Updated At

2026/01/28

Not a good buy right now for a beginner long-term investor who wants to act immediately. EPC is trading below the key pivot (~19.03) after a -2.29% regular-session drop, fundamentals recently deteriorated (losses and margin compression in 2025/Q4), and Wall Street has been cutting price targets after a weak quarter and softer FY26 guidance. With no proprietary buy signals today and an earnings catalyst ahead (2026-02-09) that could reprice the stock, the risk/reward is not attractive for an immediate long-term entry.

Technical Analysis

Price/levels: Post-market ~18.79, below Pivot 19.025 and closer to Support S1 18.502 (then S2 18.179). A reclaim of 19.03 would improve near-term technical tone; a break below 18.50 would weaken it. Momentum: MACD histogram is positive (0.074) but contracting, implying bullish momentum is fading rather than accelerating. RSI: RSI(6) ~46 (neutral), showing no oversold bounce setup. Trend: Converging moving averages suggests consolidation/indecision rather than a clear uptrend. Pattern-based odds provided: ~-1.01% next week, ~+6.15% next month—mildly constructive longer than 1 week, but not strong enough to offset weak fundamentals. Intellectia Proprietary Trading Signals - [AI Stock Picker](module://ai_stock_pick): No signal on given stock today. - [SwingMax](module://swingmax): No signal on given stock recently.

Options Data

Bullish

Open Interest Put-Call Ratio

Bullish

Option Volume Put-Call Ratio

Sentiment: Open interest put/call of 0.48 is relatively bullish (more calls than puts outstanding), but today’s options volume is extremely low (only 5 contracts), so the signal is not very reliable. Volatility: 30D IV ~87.31 vs historical volatility ~26.44 (IV percentile ~91.2). Options are pricing unusually large moves, consistent with elevated uncertainty into upcoming catalysts (notably earnings).

Technical Summary

Sell

Buy

Positive Catalysts

- Longer-term strategic improvement potential cited by analysts: Fem Care divestiture and optimization efforts could improve growth/margins over time.
- Next earnings (2026-02-09 pre-market) could act as a catalyst if margins/guide stabilize.
- Options open interest positioning leans call-heavy (OI put/call 0.48), a modest positive sentiment read (though volume is thin).

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

- 2025/Q4 profitability deterioration: net loss and EPS decline alongside gross margin compression.
- Multiple price target cuts after a fiscal Q4 miss and lower-than-expected FY26 guidance.
- Elevated implied volatility (IV very high vs realized), indicating the market expects meaningful moves/uncertainty.
- No recent positive news flow in the past week to change sentiment.
- No notable hedge fund/insider buying trends recently (both reported as neutral).

Financial Performance

Latest quarter: 2025/Q4. Revenue grew to $537.2M (+3.79% YoY), but profitability weakened materially: Net Income fell to -$30.6M (-447.73% YoY) and EPS to -$0.66 (-466.67% YoY). Gross margin dropped to 38.83% (-8.76% YoY). Overall: top-line growth is positive, but margins and earnings trend are negative, which is a weak setup for a long-term buy right now.

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

Recent trend: Analysts have been cutting price targets into late 2025 and early 2026. Wells Fargo (2026-01-05) cut PT to $20 (kept Overweight). Morgan Stanley (2025-11-18) cut PT to $21 (kept Equal Weight) after a Q4 miss and softer FY26 guidance. RBC (2025-11-14) cut PT to $23 (kept Outperform) citing weaker profitability/near-term improvement unlikely. Barclays (2025-11-14) cut PT to $19 (kept Equal Weight). Wall Street pros: Belief that portfolio actions (Fem Care divestiture) and optimization can improve the business longer term. Wall Street cons: Near-term earnings power looks pressured (weak Q4, guidance concerns, spending reset/margin pressure), driving multiple PT reductions. Influential trading check: No recent congress trading data available; hedge funds and insiders show no significant recent trend (neutral).

5 Analyst Rating

Wall Street analysts forecast EPC stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for EPC is 23.6 USD with a low forecast of 19 USD and a high forecast of 32 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.

3 Buy

2 Hold

0 Sell

Moderate Buy

Current: 18.890

Low

Averages

23.6

High

Current: 18.890

Low

Averages

23.6

High

Wells Fargo

Overweight

downgrade

$23 -> $20

AI Analysis

2026-01-05

Reason

Wells Fargo

Price Target

$23 -> $20

AI Analysis

2026-01-05

downgrade

Overweight

Reason

Wells Fargo lowered the firm's price target on Edgewell Personal Care to $20 from $23 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. As Wells aggregates models across Beverage/Food/HPC, the firm is revising its price targets into 2026.

Morgan Stanley

Equal Weight

downgrade

$23 -> $21

2025-11-18

Reason

Morgan Stanley

Price Target

$23 -> $21

2025-11-18

downgrade

Equal Weight

Reason

Morgan Stanley lowered the firm's price target on Edgewell Personal Care to $21 from $23 and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares following a fiscal Q4 miss and lower than expected FY26 guidance.

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EPC Should I Buy

EPC Should I Buy

Should You Buy Edgewell Personal Care Co (EPC) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Technical Analysis

Options Data

Technical Summary

Positive Catalysts

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

Financial Performance

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

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