Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its position in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 149,586 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,069 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned 0.06% of Church & Dwight worth $14,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CHD. Chilton Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 330 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 883 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 4.4% in the third quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 2,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 2.1% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 6,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $603,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apeiron RIA LLC boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 3.8% in the third quarter. Apeiron RIA LLC now owns 3,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Barry A. Bruno sold 9,926 shares of the firm’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $451,551.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 9,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.22, for a total transaction of $930,041.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,373 shares in the company, valued at $638,702.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Barry A. Bruno sold 9,926 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.55, for a total value of $1,037,763.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $451,551.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 373,052 shares of company stock valued at $38,603,796 over the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CHD. UBS Group upped their target price on Church & Dwight from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Bank of America increased their price target on Church & Dwight from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Church & Dwight from $94.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Church & Dwight from $109.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Church & Dwight in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.07.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CHD traded down $0.93 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $106.32. The company had a trading volume of 1,037,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,274,656. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $82.25 and a twelve month high of $108.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $25.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.11.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.65. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 12.88%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were paid a dividend of $0.2838 per share. This is a boost from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.17%.

Church & Dwight 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.