Pacer Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 137.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,001 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,212 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $5,106,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in Church & Dwight by 1,474.7% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 233,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,379,000 after acquiring an additional 218,501 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 1.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,291,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,645,000 after buying an additional 61,090 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC increased its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 1,018.1% in the third quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 103,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,524,000 after buying an additional 94,639 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the second quarter valued at approximately $142,130,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 11.5% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 363,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,329,000 after buying an additional 37,428 shares in the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CHD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Church & Dwight from $91.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. TheStreet raised Church & Dwight from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Argus raised Church & Dwight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Bank of America raised Church & Dwight from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Church & Dwight from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.80.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CHD opened at $104.31 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $100.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.64. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $82.25 and a 1-year high of $105.67. The company has a market cap of $25.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.53.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.65. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 12.88%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. Church & Dwight’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a $0.2838 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. This is an increase from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 9,280 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 9,280 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Barry A. Bruno sold 9,926 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.55, for a total value of $1,037,763.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $451,551.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 373,052 shares of company stock worth $38,603,796. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.