Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) Shares Bought by Sovereign Financial Group Inc.

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,316 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $1,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Chilton Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Church & Dwight by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 2,087.5% in the fourth quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new position in Church & Dwight during the third quarter worth about $38,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 74.7% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 685 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Church & Dwight from $91.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Barclays dropped their target price on Church & Dwight from $83.00 to $82.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Church & Dwight from $94.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.56.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

Shares of CHD stock traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $106.78. The stock had a trading volume of 1,041,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,291,391. The firm has a market cap of $26.11 billion, a PE ratio of 33.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $103.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.11. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a one year low of $82.25 and a one year high of $108.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.10. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 13.13% and a return on equity of 20.35%. The business had revenue of $1.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. Church & Dwight’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.46 EPS for the current year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a $0.2838 dividend. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is currently 35.87%.

Insider Transactions at Church & Dwight

In related news, EVP Barry A. Bruno sold 9,926 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.55, for a total transaction of $1,037,763.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $451,551.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Church & Dwight news, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 275,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.83, for a total value of $28,553,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 112,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,703,613.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Barry A. Bruno sold 9,926 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.55, for a total transaction of $1,037,763.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $451,551.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 371,524 shares of company stock valued at $38,491,358. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Company 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.