Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $111.56.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CHD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $106.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Truist Financial upped their target price on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Church & Dwight in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

CHD opened at $109.15 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $106.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.71. Church & Dwight has a 1 year low of $96.35 and a 1 year high of $116.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.85 billion, a PE ratio of 46.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 quarter last year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Church & Dwight will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. This is an increase from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.79%.

Insider Transactions at Church & Dwight

In related news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.98, for a total transaction of $1,216,378.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $707,941.26. The trade was a 63.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.98, for a total value of $6,322,069.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,217,442.06. The trade was a 83.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,570 shares of company stock valued at $7,538,449 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Church & Dwight

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Church & Dwight

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.