D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Grows Stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 55.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 241,801 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 86,318 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned about 0.10% of Church & Dwight worth $25,070,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 442.1% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 14,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,338,000 after buying an additional 11,538 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 342,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,755,000 after purchasing an additional 39,695 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 208,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,798,000 after purchasing an additional 23,754 shares during the last quarter. Cim LLC purchased a new position in shares of Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,188,000. Finally, Ossiam increased its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Ossiam now owns 42,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,049,000 after purchasing an additional 8,384 shares during the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

CHD stock opened at $104.39 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.53. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a one year low of $82.25 and a one year high of $110.31. The firm has a market cap of $25.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.54.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 13.38% and a return on equity of 19.86%. Church & Dwight’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.2838 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is 35.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Barry A. Bruno sold 59,328 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.37, for a total value of $5,895,423.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $429,179.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CHD shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Church & Dwight from $116.00 to $108.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Church & Dwight from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $110.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Church & Dwight in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $116.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Church & Dwight from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.25.

Church & Dwight Profile

Church & Dwight Co, Inc develops, manufactures, and markets household, personal care, and specialty products. It operates in three segments: Consumer Domestic, Consumer International, and Specialty Products Division. The company offers cat litters, carpet deodorizers, laundry detergents, and baking soda, as well as other baking soda based products under the ARM & HAMMER brand; condoms, lubricants, and vibrators under the TROJAN brand; stain removers, cleaning solutions, laundry detergents, and bleach alternatives under the OXICLEAN brand; toothbrushes under the SPINBRUSH brand; home pregnancy and ovulation test kits under the FIRST RESPONSE brand; depilatories under the NAIR brand; oral analgesics under the ORAJEL brand; laundry detergents under the XTRA brand; gummy dietary supplements under the L'IL CRITTERS and VITAFUSION brands; dry shampoos under the BATISTE brand; water flossers and showerheads under the WATERPIK brand; cold shortening and relief products under the ZICAM brand; oral care products under the THERABREATH brand; and acne treatment products under the HERO brand.