Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) Hits New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $110.00 to $120.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Church & Dwight traded as high as $105.83 and last traded at $105.61, with a volume of 161921 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $104.35.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on CHD. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Church & Dwight in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $94.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $91.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.07.

Insider Activity at Church & Dwight

In related news, CFO Richard A. Dierker sold 24,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.61, for a total transaction of $2,526,011.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $790,958.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Richard A. Dierker sold 24,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.61, for a total transaction of $2,526,011.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $790,958.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 9,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.22, for a total transaction of $930,041.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $638,702.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 373,052 shares of company stock valued at $38,603,796. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Chilton Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Church & Dwight by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 330 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Gateway Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 2,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Sovereign Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 17,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. 86.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $102.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.53.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.65. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.62 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, February 15th were given a $0.2838 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. This is an increase from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.17%.

About Church & Dwight

Church & Dwight Co, Inc develops, manufactures, and markets household, personal care, and specialty products. It operates in three segments: Consumer Domestic, Consumer International, and Specialty Products Division. The company offers cat litters, carpet deodorizers, laundry detergents, and baking soda, as well as other baking soda based products under the ARM & HAMMER brand; condoms, lubricants, and vibrators under the TROJAN brand; stain removers, cleaning solutions, laundry detergents, and bleach alternatives under the OXICLEAN brand; toothbrushes under the SPINBRUSH brand; home pregnancy and ovulation test kits under the FIRST RESPONSE brand; depilatories under the NAIR brand; oral analgesics under the ORAJEL brand; laundry detergents under the XTRA brand; gummy dietary supplements under the L'IL CRITTERS and VITAFUSION brands; dry shampoos under the BATISTE brand; water flossers and showerheads under the WATERPIK brand; cold shortening and relief products under the ZICAM brand; oral care products under the THERABREATH brand; and acne treatment products under the HERO brand.