SRN Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

SRN Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 7,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $787,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight during the third quarter worth $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 224.4% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

CHD opened at $108.63 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $26.72 billion, a PE ratio of 45.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.86. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.35 and a fifty-two week high of $113.50.

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

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is 49.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CHD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Church & Dwight from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Church & Dwight in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen raised their target price on Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Rick Spann sold 39,520 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total value of $4,426,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,976. This represents a 88.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael Read bought 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $106.82 per share, for a total transaction of $117,502.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 2,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $267,584.10. This represents a 78.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,522 shares of company stock valued at $5,487,555. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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