Prudential PLC Grows Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Key Points

• Prudential PLC has increased its stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. by 1.9%, holding 161,863 shares valued at approximately $17.8 million.
• Church & Dwight announced a quarterly dividend of $0.295 per share, scheduled for payment on September 2nd, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.3%.
• The company's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $0.94, exceeding expectations, while revenue declined 0.3% year-over-year.

Prudential PLC boosted its holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 161,863 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,027 shares during the period. Prudential PLC owned approximately 0.07% of Church & Dwight worth $17,819,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CHD. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Church & Dwight during the first quarter worth about $106,736,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 855,049 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Church & Dwight by 2.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,441,639 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,461,410,000 after purchasing an additional 750,575 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new position in Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,504,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted 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 during the period. 86.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Church & Dwight

In related news, EVP Carlen Hooker sold 11,875 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.75, for a total value of $1,172,656.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 262 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,872.50. This trade represents a 97.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael Read purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $91.27 per share, with a total value of $182,540.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president owned 7,505 shares in the company, valued at $684,981.35. The trade was a 36.33% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 12,879 shares of company stock worth $1,177,702 and have sold 35,915 shares worth $3,545,300. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

CHD traded down $0.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $92.46. 1,962,176 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,429,810. The company has a market cap of $22.52 billion, a PE ratio of 43.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.43. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $96.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.76. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $90.50 and a 1 year high of $116.46. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during 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%. Church & Dwight's quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Church & Dwight's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Cowen cut shares of Church & Dwight from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Church & Dwight from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $84.00 to $83.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $103.94.

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.