Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Stock Holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 646,328 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 13,963 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.26% of Church & Dwight worth $67,677,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its position in Church & Dwight by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 21,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,227,000 after purchasing an additional 2,376 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,942,000. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Church & Dwight by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,864,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,191,000 after purchasing an additional 68,896 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in Church & Dwight by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 39,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,114,000 after purchasing an additional 7,070 shares during the period. Finally, Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new stake in Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter worth approximately $379,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Stock Up 0.9%

CHD opened at $96.83 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.70. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.99 and a fifty-two week high of $116.46. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $101.78 and its 200 day moving average is $105.21. The stock has a market cap of $23.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.02. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 20.03%. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. Church & Dwight’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $106.00 to $102.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Church & Dwight from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.13.

Insider Activity at Church & Dwight

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.98, for a total value of $6,322,069.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,217,442.06. The trade was a 83.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Penry W. Price sold 14,660 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.13, for a total transaction of $1,365,285.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,518,514.59. This represents a 35.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 80,230 shares of company stock worth $8,903,734. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Church & Dwight Profile

Church & Dwight Co, Inc engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of household, personal care, and specialty products. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Domestic, Consumer International, Specialty Products Division (SPD), and Corporate. The Consumer Domestic segment offers household products, such as laundry detergents, fabric softener sheets, cat litter, household cleaning products, and personal care products including antiperspirants, oral care products, depilatories, reproductive health products, oral analgesics, nasal saline moisturizers, and dietary supplements.