Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) Given New $109.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan raised Church & Dwight’s price target to $109 from $105 while maintaining a neutral rating, implying just 0.47% upside from the prior close. Analysts overall have a consensus “Hold” rating and a $105.94 target.
• Church & Dwight shares traded at $108.49, near their 52-week high of $111.23. The company exceeded quarterly expectations with $0.92 adjusted EPS and $1.60 billion in revenue, up 1% year over year.
• Insiders sold 53,250 shares worth approximately $5.46 million during the last quarter, while institutional investors own 86.6% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $105.00 to $109.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s target price would suggest a potential upside of 0.47% from the stock's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also commented on CHD. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Church & Dwight from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Church & Dwight in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $105.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Church & Dwight in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Church & Dwight in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $105.94.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

CHD stock traded up $1.26 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $108.49. The stock had a trading volume of 117,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,060,914. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $25.73 billion, a PE ratio of 33.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.45. Church & Dwight has a 52-week low of $81.49 and a 52-week high of $111.23.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.02. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 12.41%. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Church & Dwight will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Church & Dwight

In other Church & Dwight news, Director Bradley Irwin sold 4,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.69, for a total transaction of $441,567.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 35,674 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,663,363.06. This represents a 10.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 5,000 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.25, for a total value of $511,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,086 shares of the company's stock, valued at $826,793.50. This trade represents a 38.21% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 53,250 shares of company stock worth $5,462,048 in the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Church & Dwight

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. North Dakota State Investment Board lifted its holdings in Church & Dwight by 1.5% in the third quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board now owns 7,254 shares of the company's stock worth $683,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 5.3% in the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 2,692 shares of the company's stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Church & Dwight by 3.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,222 shares of the company's stock valued at $506,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH increased its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.4% in the first quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 35,870 shares of the company's stock worth $3,347,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Asset Strategies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 3.5% during the third quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 4,701 shares of the company's stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.60% of the company's stock.

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.

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