State of Michigan Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD – Get Rating) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 70,291 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $5,666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Church & Dwight by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 148,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,670,000 after purchasing an additional 15,509 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Church & Dwight by 27.8% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 226.2% during the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 55,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,557,000 after buying an additional 38,777 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Church & Dwight by 119.2% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 22,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,253,000 after acquiring an additional 12,328 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 54.6% in the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.86% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Church & Dwight from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Atlantic Securities upgraded Church & Dwight from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Credit Suisse Group raised shares of Church & Dwight from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $85.00 to $95.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. TheStreet lowered Church & Dwight from a “b” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Church & Dwight from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $87.56.
Church & Dwight Stock Down 0.1 %
CHD opened at $90.54 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.10 billion, a PE ratio of 53.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.63. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $70.16 and a fifty-two week high of $105.28. The business has a 50-day moving average of $84.76 and a 200-day moving average of $80.26.
Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 7.70% and a return on equity of 20.70%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Church & Dwight Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 15th were paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 14th. This is an increase from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is 64.88%.
Insider Activity
In related news, Director Penry W. Price sold 17,544 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.90, for a total value of $1,471,941.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,039,692.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Church & Dwight news, Director Penry W. Price sold 17,544 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.90, for a total value of $1,471,941.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,039,692.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Paul Richard Wood sold 48,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.37, for a total transaction of $4,023,602.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,004.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 83,350 shares of company stock valued at $6,969,241. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.
About Church & Dwight
Church & Dwight Co, Inc engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of household, personal care, and specialty products. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Domestic, Consumer International, Specialty Products, and Corporate. The Consumer Domestic segment offers household products, such as laundry detergents, fabric softener sheets, cat litter, and household cleaning products, and personal care products including antiperspirants, oral care products, depilatories, reproductive health products, oral analgesics, nasal saline moisturizers, and dietary supplements.
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