Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,000,000 shares, an increase of 29.3% from the October 31st total of 4,640,000 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,510,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Church & Dwight Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Church & Dwight stock traded up $1.24 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $111.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,308,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,397,304. The company has a market capitalization of $27.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.39, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.31. Church & Dwight has a one year low of $90.26 and a one year high of $113.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.62.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 19.90% and a net margin of 9.08%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Church & Dwight will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.2838 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is 50.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CHD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Church & Dwight from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Church & Dwight from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $110.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, September 9th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Church & Dwight from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Church & Dwight has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $108.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Church & Dwight

In other news, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 45,120 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.19, for a total transaction of $5,062,012.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,325 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,158,361.75. This trade represents a 81.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 165,823 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.03, for a total value of $17,084,743.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 112,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,613,438.57. This trade represents a 59.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 543,513 shares of company stock worth $56,795,253 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Church & Dwight in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the 2nd quarter worth about $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

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.