Commodity Costs Will Hit Procter & Gamble Profits

Investing - UBS and have downgraded Procter & Gamble because of rising commodity prices.In a note to clients, Jefferies reduced P&G to hold from buy, and also trimmed its 12-month stock price target by about 5% to $79 a share.UBS lowered its rating from buy to neutral, but left its price forecast at $83. Jefferies called higher commodities prices a "significant headwind" for P&G, noting that its costs had risen 15% over the past 12 months. That's a problem because P&G won't be able to pass along those higher costs to consumers in a "difficult" pricing environment.UBS said higher prices would force P&G to lower its earnings estimate for 2019 below the consensus expectation of analysts.P&G shares are down 11% in the past 12 months. The company is expectedv to report earnings on July 31.