Swedbank AB Raises Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 151,004 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,136 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned 0.06% of Church & Dwight worth $15,812,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.8% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 50,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,242,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter worth about $639,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,934,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 9.1% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 337,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,368,000 after purchasing an additional 28,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Enhancement Group LLC increased its holdings in Church & Dwight by 456.2% in the fourth quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 60,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,232,000 after buying an additional 49,693 shares during the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Church & Dwight

In other news, Director Arthur B. Winkleblack sold 11,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.84, for a total transaction of $1,203,505.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $740,275.36. This trade represents a 61.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 45,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.19, for a total value of $5,062,012.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,325 shares in the company, valued at $1,158,361.75. This trade represents a 81.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 593,035 shares of company stock valued at $62,282,808. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Church & Dwight Stock Down 1.6 %

CHD stock opened at $105.36 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $106.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $25.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.58. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.09 and a 52 week high of $113.50.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 19.90% and a net margin of 9.08%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.295 dividend. This is a boost from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is 50.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Church & Dwight from $105.00 to $103.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $99.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Church & Dwight currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.61.

Church & Dwight Company Profile

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.