Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) by 35.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 968,532 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 252,528 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.39% of Church & Dwight worth $106,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHD. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 21,115 shares of the company's stock worth $2,325,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 5,332.0% during the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 124,446 shares of the company's stock worth $13,700,000 after acquiring an additional 122,155 shares during the last quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Church & Dwight by 113.3% during the 1st quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,613 shares of the company's stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 2,450 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Church & Dwight by 6.1% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 6,419 shares of the company's stock worth $707,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight in the first quarter worth $99,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.60% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Church & Dwight

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Carlen Hooker sold 6,380 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.30, for a total value of $627,154.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 262 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,754.60. The trade was a 96.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ravichandra Krishnamu Saligram sold 14,660 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,747 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,360,953. This represents a 51.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 50,575 shares of company stock valued at $4,910,586. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

CHD traded up $0.38 on Friday, reaching $98.41. 1,204,908 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,754,418. The company's 50-day moving average price is $96.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $102.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.24 billion, a PE ratio of 42.24, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.51. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.99 and a fifty-two week high of $116.46.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.52% and a return on equity of 19.28%. Church & Dwight's revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Church & Dwight's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CHD has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $102.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Oppenheimer dropped 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Church & Dwight from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $108.29.

Church & Dwight 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.