Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) Upgraded by Royal Bank of Canada to "Outperform" Rating

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report report published on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has $114.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $100.00.

CHD has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Church & Dwight from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $102.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $110.00.

Church & Dwight Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:CHD traded down $0.61 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $99.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 731,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,698,399. Church & Dwight has a fifty-two week low of $90.99 and a fifty-two week high of $116.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $99.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.78, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.52 billion. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.03% and a net margin of 9.58%. Church & Dwight's quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Church & Dwight will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. Church & Dwight's payout ratio is 50.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael Read purchased 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $92.07 per share, for a total transaction of $276,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at $506,845.35. This trade represents a 119.76% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard A. Dierker acquired 7,950 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $94.66 per share, with a total value of $752,547.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 16,358 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,548,448.28. This represents a 94.55% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 109,765 shares of company stock worth $11,821,881. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Church & Dwight

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cim LLC grew its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 3.1% in the first quarter. Cim LLC now owns 35,275 shares of the company's stock worth $3,883,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Church & Dwight during the 1st quarter valued at about $668,000. Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 24.5% in the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612 shares of the company's stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 54.7% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,063 shares of the company's stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 1.7% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 46,877 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,161,000 after acquiring an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.60% of the company's stock.

Church & Dwight Company 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.