Invesco Ltd. Trims Stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. reduced its position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. by 3.9% in the first quarter, now holding about 1.14% of the company's shares valued at $309 million.
• Church & Dwight reported $0.94 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.85, with revenue reaching $1.51 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.295, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.3%, set to be paid on September 2nd to shareholders of record.

Invesco Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) by 3.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,806,942 shares of the company's stock after selling 114,305 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 1.14% of Church & Dwight worth $309,016,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Church & Dwight by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,441,639 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,461,410,000 after buying an additional 750,575 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Church & Dwight by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,316,414 shares of the company's stock valued at $451,975,000 after buying an additional 20,887 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Church & Dwight by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,018,552 shares of the company's stock valued at $316,073,000 after buying an additional 393,068 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,404,961 shares of the company's stock valued at $251,823,000 after acquiring an additional 124,560 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,864,115 shares of the company's stock valued at $195,191,000 after acquiring an additional 68,896 shares during the period. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

CHD stock traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $92.46. The company had a trading volume of 1,962,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,429,810. The company has a market capitalization of $22.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.43. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.50 and a 12-month high of $116.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $96.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.76.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.48 billion. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 19.27%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Church & Dwight's dividend payout ratio is currently 55.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $84.00 to $83.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $97.00 to $92.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Cowen downgraded shares of Church & Dwight from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Church & Dwight from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $114.00 in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. 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.com, Church & Dwight presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $103.94.

Insider Activity

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Michael Read bought 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $91.27 per share, for a total transaction of $182,540.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 7,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at $684,981.35. This represents a 36.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ravichandra Krishnamu Saligram sold 14,660 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $1,451,340.00. Following the sale, the director owned 13,747 shares in the company, valued at $1,360,953. This 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 bought 12,879 shares of company stock worth $1,177,702 and sold 35,915 shares worth $3,545,300. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.