Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 16.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,853 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,875 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $6,477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter worth $639,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,934,000. Financial Enhancement Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 456.2% during the 4th quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 60,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,232,000 after buying an additional 49,693 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Church & Dwight by 131.0% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 5,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $604,000 after buying an additional 3,272 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $76,565,000. Institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE CHD opened at $104.66 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.16, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a one year low of $96.35 and a one year high of $116.46. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $107.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 20.03%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.98, for a total transaction of $1,216,378.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $707,941.26. This represents a 63.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.98, for a total value of $6,322,069.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,217,442.06. This represents a 83.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 65,570 shares of company stock valued at $7,538,449 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CHD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Church & Dwight in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $106.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Church & Dwight presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.56.

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 Division (SPD), and Corporate. The Consumer Domestic segment offers household products, such as laundry detergents, fabric softener sheets, cat litter, household cleaning products, and personal care products including antiperspirants, oral care products, depilatories, reproductive health products, oral analgesics, nasal saline moisturizers, and dietary supplements.