StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD)

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD – Get Rating) in a report issued on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on CHD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Friday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, February 6th. Oppenheimer restated an outperform rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Church & Dwight in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Church & Dwight from a b rating to a c rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $87.81.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

Shares of CHD opened at $85.46 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.86 billion, a PE ratio of 50.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.63. Church & Dwight has a 1-year low of $70.16 and a 1-year high of $105.28. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $83.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.39.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 7.70% and a return on equity of 20.70%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Church & Dwight will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 15th were given a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 14th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. This is an increase from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is 64.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Penry W. Price sold 17,544 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.90, for a total transaction of $1,471,941.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,039,692.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Penry W. Price sold 17,544 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.90, for a total transaction of $1,471,941.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,039,692.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Paul Richard Wood sold 48,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.37, for a total transaction of $4,023,602.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,004.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 83,350 shares of company stock worth $6,969,241. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Church & Dwight during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Old North State Trust LLC purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.86% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Company Profile

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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.