Voleon Capital Management LP Takes $546,000 Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 5,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $546,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CHD. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in Church & Dwight by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 21,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in Church & Dwight by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 3,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 11,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 12,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,270,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,497 shares in the company, valued at $1,217,442.06. The trade was a 83.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.98, for a total value of $1,216,378.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 65,570 shares of company stock worth $7,538,449 over the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Church & Dwight Trading Down 7.0 %

Shares of NYSE CHD opened at $92.41 on Friday. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.77 and a 1 year high of $116.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $106.21 and a 200 day moving average of $105.99. The stock has a market cap of $22.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 20.03%. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is presently 49.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CHD shares. Piper Sandler lowered 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. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $109.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Church & Dwight in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Church & Dwight from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Church & Dwight presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.29.

Church & Dwight Profile

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.