Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $114.23 and last traded at $113.6880, with a volume of 90,375 shares. The stock had previously closed at $112.03.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $115.00 price objective (up from $97.00) on shares of Church & Dwight in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Church & Dwight from $112.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Church & Dwight in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $108.44.

Church & Dwight Trading Down 1.9%

The company has a market cap of $25.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.62, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $100.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.16.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 12.41% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. Church & Dwight’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a $0.3075 dividend. This represents a $1.23 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael Read sold 8,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.29, for a total value of $976,923.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $179,439.42. This trade represents a 84.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard Dierker sold 83,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.59, for a total transaction of $9,133,230.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 38,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,236,639.81. This represents a 68.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 141,390 shares of company stock valued at $15,252,844. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Church & Dwight

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CHD. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,174,535,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 51.2% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,050,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $468,902,000 after buying an additional 1,709,090 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 18.5% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,925,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,447,000 after purchasing an additional 457,445 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 28.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,548,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,861,000 after acquiring an additional 572,085 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Church & Dwight by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,170,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,597,000 after purchasing an additional 64,803 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Company Profile

Church & Dwight Co, Inc is a consumer packaged goods company that develops, manufactures and markets household, personal care and specialty products. Its portfolio is anchored by the ARM & HAMMER brand, which is used across products such as baking soda, laundry detergent, cat litter, household cleaners, oral care products and personal care items.

The company also markets a broad range of branded products, including OxiClean laundry and cleaning products, Trojan sexual wellness products, Waterpik oral health devices, First Response pregnancy and fertility tests, Nair hair-removal products, Orajel oral pain relief, TheraBreath oral care products, and vitamins and supplements sold under the Vitafusion and L’il Critters brands.