Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) Short Interest Down 8.7% in July

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,110,000 shares, a drop of 8.7% from the June 30th total of 6,690,000 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,370,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.5 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CHD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Argus increased their price target on Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, HSBC lifted their price target on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Church & Dwight has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.88.

Insider Activity

In other Church & Dwight news, CFO Richard A. Dierker sold 86,740 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.56, for a total transaction of $9,243,014.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $813,479.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Robert K. Shearer sold 13,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.36, for a total value of $1,403,952.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 29,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,095,926.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Richard A. Dierker sold 86,740 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.56, for a total value of $9,243,014.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $813,479.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 182,346 shares of company stock worth $19,465,948 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Church & Dwight

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 290.0% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 56,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,316,000 after buying an additional 41,804 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in Church & Dwight by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 55,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,266,000 after purchasing an additional 2,545 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 3,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 14,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,384,000 after buying an additional 582 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CHD traded up $2.00 during trading on Thursday, hitting $100.01. 2,311,010 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,347,348. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Church & Dwight has a 1-year low of $82.25 and a 1-year high of $110.31. The company has a market capitalization of $24.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50 day moving average is $104.97 and its 200-day moving average is $103.40.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.96 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 for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Church & Dwight will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.2838 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is 35.87%.

Church & Dwight Company Profile

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.