Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) reached 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 traded. The stock had previously closed at $104.35.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Bank of America increased their target price on Church & Dwight from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $94.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. 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. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Church & Dwight from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Church & Dwight

In related news, EVP Michael Read sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $472,500.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 275,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.83, for a total transaction of $28,553,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 112,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,703,613.77. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael Read sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $472,500.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 373,052 shares of company stock worth $38,603,796 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Church & Dwight

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CHD. Carderock Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Church & Dwight by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Carderock Capital Management Inc. now owns 48,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,064,000 after purchasing an additional 3,194 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 40.2% during the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the period. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC raised its holdings in Church & Dwight by 9.7% in the first quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC now owns 34,730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,623,000 after acquiring an additional 3,069 shares in the last quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Church & Dwight by 179.0% in the first quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,499 shares of the company’s stock worth $746,000 after acquiring an additional 4,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Church & Dwight by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 207,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,667,000 after acquiring an additional 9,629 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $26.02 billion, a PE ratio of 35.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.34 and its 200 day simple moving average 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.

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

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

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