Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Trims Stock Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,200 shares of the company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $1,382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CHD. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 4.9% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 55,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,805,000 after acquiring an additional 2,578 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 33,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,480,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight during the third quarter valued at approximately $583,000. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 1.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 318,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,353,000 after purchasing an additional 5,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 16.2% during the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 481,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,380,000 after purchasing an additional 67,112 shares in the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

CHD opened at $105.12 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.75 billion, a PE ratio of 44.36, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.59. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.35 and a twelve month high of $113.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $105.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

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

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. This is an increase from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is 47.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Church & Dwight news, CAO Joseph James Longo sold 7,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.44, for a total transaction of $874,783.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 400 shares in the company, valued at $44,976. The trade was a 95.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 45,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.19, for a total transaction of $5,062,012.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,158,361.75. This trade represents a 81.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 102,422 shares of company stock valued at $11,424,351 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Church & Dwight has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.53.

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, 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.