First Horizon Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 13.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,590 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $150,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Chilton Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Church & Dwight by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 883 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Church & Dwight by 2.1% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 6,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Church & Dwight by 5.9% in the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 2,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CHD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays cut 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. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of 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, TheStreet upgraded Church & Dwight from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Church & Dwight has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.56.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

Shares of CHD opened at $105.41 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market cap of $25.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.46, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.51. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $82.25 and a 12 month high of $108.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $103.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.99.

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

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Church & Dwight news, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 275,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.83, for a total transaction 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 275,000 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.83, for a total transaction of $28,553,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 112,719 shares in the company, valued at $11,703,613.77. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Barry A. Bruno sold 9,926 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $451,551.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 373,052 shares of company stock valued at $38,603,796 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.