Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) Price Target Cut to $97.00

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) had its price objective trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $98.00 to $97.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underweight rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. TheStreet upgraded Church & Dwight from a c+ rating to a b rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Argus raised Church & Dwight from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $115.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $94.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Church & Dwight currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $105.56.

Church & Dwight Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:CHD opened at $105.41 on Friday. Church & Dwight has a 1 year low of $82.25 and a 1 year high of $108.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $103.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.99.

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

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.2838 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is currently 35.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 275,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.83, for a total value of $28,553,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 112,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,703,613.77. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 275,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.83, for a total value of $28,553,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 112,719 shares in the company, valued at $11,703,613.77. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 9,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.22, for a total transaction of $930,041.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $638,702.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 373,052 shares of company stock valued at $38,603,796. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Church & Dwight

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.6% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 75,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,873,000 after buying an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Church & Dwight by 0.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 203,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,667,000 after buying an additional 1,660 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 8.0% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $857,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 11.1% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 53,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,300 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 317.8% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 164,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,105,000 after purchasing an additional 125,386 shares during the period. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Church & Dwight

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.