Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) Short Interest Update

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,910,000 shares, a growth of 12.5% from the February 29th total of 6,140,000 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,270,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Church & Dwight

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Church & Dwight by 442.1% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 14,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,338,000 after buying an additional 11,538 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter worth $255,000. M3 Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter worth $200,000. Finally, Cove Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter worth $556,000. Institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on CHD. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $94.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Church & Dwight from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday, December 15th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $91.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.80.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

Shares of CHD opened at $104.64 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.08. Church & Dwight has a twelve month low of $82.25 and a twelve month high of $105.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $101.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.66. The firm has a market cap of $25.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.42, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.53.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65. The business 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Church & Dwight will post 3.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were given a $0.2838 dividend. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is currently 37.17%.

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.