Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) Hits New 12-Month High at $108.68

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $108.68 and last traded at $106.83, with a volume of 122146 shares. The stock had previously closed at $107.89.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CHD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Church & Dwight from $109.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $94.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $91.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.07.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $26.17 billion, a PE ratio of 35.50, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.53.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.28%. Church & Dwight’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.44 EPS for the current year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 275,000 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.83, for a total value of $28,553,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 112,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,703,613.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 275,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.83, for a total value of $28,553,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 112,719 shares in the company, valued at $11,703,613.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 9,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.22, for a total value of $930,041.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $638,702.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 373,052 shares of company stock valued at $38,603,796. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Church & Dwight

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Church & Dwight by 20.2% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 80,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,349,000 after buying an additional 13,455 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Church & Dwight in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $568,000. Norden Group LLC raised its holdings in Church & Dwight by 77.0% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 5,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $550,000 after purchasing an additional 2,293 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Church & Dwight by 6.9% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 33,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,524,000 after purchasing an additional 2,178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Church & Dwight by 31.2% in the first quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 387,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,441,000 after purchasing an additional 92,297 shares during the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.