Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $109.13.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CHD shares. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Cowen cut shares of Church & Dwight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of Church & Dwight 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 $707,941.26. This trade represents a 63.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.98, for a total transaction of $6,322,069.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,217,442.06. This represents a 83.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 80,230 shares of company stock worth $8,903,734. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Church & Dwight

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CHD. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 224.4% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 92.9% in the first quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

NYSE:CHD opened at $95.20 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.70. The company has a fifty day moving average of $103.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.45 billion, a PE ratio of 40.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55. Church & Dwight has a fifty-two week low of $90.99 and a fifty-two week high of $116.46.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 20.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Church & Dwight will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is currently 50.64%.

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.