Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Grows Stock Holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 801,900 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 13,740 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $83,967,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 86.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

Shares of Church & Dwight stock opened at $91.59 on Friday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $104.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.50. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.08 and a 52 week high of $116.46. The company has a market capitalization of $22.54 billion, a PE ratio of 38.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is 50.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,217,442.06. This represents a 83.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Penry W. Price sold 14,660 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.13, for a total transaction of $1,365,285.80. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,518,514.59. The trade was a 35.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 80,230 shares of company stock valued at $8,903,734 over the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CHD shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Church & Dwight from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $112.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Church & Dwight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Church & Dwight from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Church & Dwight presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.13.

Church & Dwight Company 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.