Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Takes $1.71 Million Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired 15,538 shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. for approximately $1,711,000 during the 1st quarter, indicating growing institutional interest in the company.
• Recent analyst ratings for Church & Dwight show mixed sentiment, with four analysts rating it as a sell, while seven rated it a buy, resulting in a consensus rating of "Hold" and a price target of $104.38.
• Church & Dwight recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.295, yielding 1.23%, with a payout ratio of 50.64%, highlighting the company's commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 15,538 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,711,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CHD. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 12,489.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 861,895 shares of the company's stock worth $94,886,000 after buying an additional 855,049 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,504,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,018,552 shares of the company's stock worth $316,073,000 after buying an additional 393,068 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in Church & Dwight during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,743,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,493,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.60% of the company's stock.

Church & Dwight Stock Up 0.4%

CHD traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $94.11. 4,674,657 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,031,294. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $90.99 and a 1-year high of $116.46. The stock's 50-day moving average is $97.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.75. The stock has a market cap of $23.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.39, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.09. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.52% and a return on equity of 19.28%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Church & Dwight's dividend payout ratio is 50.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael Read purchased 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $92.07 per share, with a total value of $276,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at $506,845.35. The trade was a 119.76% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ravichandra Krishnamu Saligram sold 14,660 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $1,451,340.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,747 shares in the company, valued at $1,360,953. This trade represents a 51.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 50,575 shares of company stock valued at $4,910,586. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CHD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Church & Dwight from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $94.00 to $84.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. TD Cowen lowered shares of Church & Dwight from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.38.

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.