Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) Director Ravichandra Krishnamu Saligram Sells 5,000 Shares of Stock

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) Director Ravichandra Saligram sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.69, for a total value of $563,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $411,656.57. This represents a 57.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Church & Dwight Trading Down 0.5%

CHD opened at $111.46 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $100.00 and its 200-day moving average is $98.08. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.49 and a 52-week high of $114.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 12.41% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.3075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in Church & Dwight by 12.9% during the third quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 14,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,332,000 after buying an additional 1,617 shares in the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Church & Dwight by 6.5% during the third quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 5,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S. raised its position in Church & Dwight by 19.6% in the third quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 48,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,580,000 after acquiring an additional 7,959 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. bought a new stake in Church & Dwight in the third quarter worth about $304,000. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its position in Church & Dwight by 1.3% in the third quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 40,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,860,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Church & Dwight News

Here are the key news stories impacting Church & Dwight this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo reiterated its “overweight” rating and raised its target to $115; Morgan Stanley lifted its target to $117, and reports also cite favorable calls from JPMorgan and Citigroup. The analyst optimism follows Church & Dwight’s recent quarterly earnings and revenue beat. Wells Fargo rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinion is not uniformly bullish: Morgan Stanley’s higher target came with an “equal weight” rating, and Barclays maintained a “sell” rating. This disagreement tempers the positive target revisions. Barclays rating
• Negative Sentiment: Several company insiders reported selling shares, led by CEO Richard Dierker, who sold 83,340 shares (about $9.1 million), reducing his holdings by 68.31%. EVP Michael Read sold 8,700 shares, and Director Ravichandra Saligram sold 5,000; director Bradley Irwin also recently sold 4,300. The filings do not specify why the shares were sold, but the transactions may create a near-term sentiment headwind. CEO filing EVP filing Director filing

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on CHD shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on Church & Dwight from $106.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price objective (up from $105.00) on shares of Church & Dwight in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Church & Dwight from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Church & Dwight from $112.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.44.

About Church & Dwight

Church & Dwight Co, Inc is a consumer packaged goods company that develops, manufactures and markets household, personal care and specialty products. Its portfolio is anchored by the ARM & HAMMER brand, which is used across products such as baking soda, laundry detergent, cat litter, household cleaners, oral care products and personal care items.

The company also markets a broad range of branded products, including OxiClean laundry and cleaning products, Trojan sexual wellness products, Waterpik oral health devices, First Response pregnancy and fertility tests, Nair hair-removal products, Orajel oral pain relief, TheraBreath oral care products, and vitamins and supplements sold under the Vitafusion and L’il Critters brands.