ING Groep NV Buys 269,017 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Key Points

• ING Groep NV increased its stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. by 857.1%, acquiring an additional 269,017 shares in the first quarter, raising its total ownership to 300,403 shares valued at approximately $33 million.
• The company recently reported $1.51 billion in revenue for the quarter, which was higher than analysts' expectations, along with an EPS of $0.94, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.85.
• Church & Dwight announced a quarterly dividend of $0.295 per share, payable to shareholders on September 2nd, which represents an annualized dividend yield of 1.3%.

ING Groep NV boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) by 857.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 300,403 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 269,017 shares during the period. ING Groep NV owned approximately 0.12% of Church & Dwight worth $33,071,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 12,489.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 861,895 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,886,000 after acquiring an additional 855,049 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter worth $49,504,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Church & Dwight by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,018,552 shares of the company's stock valued at $316,073,000 after purchasing an additional 393,068 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in Church & Dwight in the first quarter worth about $41,743,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,493,000. 86.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Church & Dwight Trading Up 0.4%

Church & Dwight stock opened at $94.11 on Monday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $97.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.70. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.99 and a 12 month high of $116.46. The firm has a market cap of $23.18 billion, a PE ratio of 44.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.09. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 19.27% and a net margin of 8.66%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Church & Dwight's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CHD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Church & Dwight from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Redburn Partners set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Church & Dwight in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Cowen cut Church & Dwight from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Church & Dwight has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.38.

Insider Activity at Church & Dwight

In other Church & Dwight news, Director Ravichandra Krishnamu Saligram sold 14,660 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,360,953. The trade was a 51.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard A. Dierker bought 7,950 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $94.66 per share, for a total transaction of $752,547.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 16,358 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,548,448.28. This represents a 94.55% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,575 shares of company stock valued at $4,910,586 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

About Church & Dwight

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.

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