GAMMA Investing LLC Increases Stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 40.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,846 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,956 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $717,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of Church & Dwight during the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,934,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 520,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,720,000 after buying an additional 4,091 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 69,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,307,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in Church & Dwight by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 19,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,048,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CHD has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Church & Dwight in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Church & Dwight from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ravichandra Krishnamu Saligram sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.11, for a total transaction of $1,061,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 32,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,448,575. This trade represents a 23.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Read acquired 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $106.82 per share, with a total value of $117,502.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 2,505 shares in the company, valued at $267,584.10. This trade represents a 78.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 593,035 shares of company stock valued at $62,282,808. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Trading Up 0.8 %

CHD opened at $104.64 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $106.72 and a 200 day moving average of $104.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $93.32 and a 12 month high of $113.50. The firm has a market cap of $25.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.58.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 19.90% and a net margin of 9.08%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.45 EPS for the current year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.2838 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.67%.

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.