Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 14,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,409,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CHD. Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Church & Dwight by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Veritable L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 1.6% in the first quarter. Veritable L.P. now owns 7,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $682,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 2.0% in the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 6,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $646,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of CHD opened at $104.35 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $102.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.57. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $82.25 and a twelve month high of $105.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.33, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.53.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.65. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict 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 was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were given a $0.2838 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $91.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. TheStreet raised shares of Church & Dwight from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Church & Dwight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.27.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Richard A. Dierker sold 24,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.61, for a total transaction of $2,526,011.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 7,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $790,958.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Richard A. Dierker sold 24,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.61, for a total transaction of $2,526,011.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 7,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $790,958.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 9,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.22, for a total transaction of $930,041.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $638,702.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 373,052 shares of company stock worth $38,603,796 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by 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.