S Bank Fund Management Ltd Takes Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Key Points

• S Bank Fund Management Ltd invested $720,000 in Church & Dwight Co., Inc., acquiring 6,540 shares of the company's stock during the first quarter.
• Insider trades revealed that EVP Michael Read and CEO Richard A. Dierker increased their shares in the company, reflecting confidence in its performance.
• Church & Dwight reported a quarterly net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 19.27%, surpassing analysts' earnings expectations with $0.94 EPS against an estimate of $0.85.

S Bank Fund Management Ltd bought a new stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,540 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $720,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 89.3% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 53,164 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,567,000 after acquiring an additional 25,080 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 451.2% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 81,065 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,924,000 after acquiring an additional 66,357 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 1,201.4% in the first quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 8,342 shares of the company's stock valued at $918,000 after acquiring an additional 7,701 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 9.4% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 37,916 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,137,000 after acquiring an additional 3,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAM Holding AG purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight during the first quarter worth about $1,249,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on CHD shares. Redburn Partners set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Church & Dwight in a report on Monday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Church & Dwight from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $114.00 in a report on Monday, June 2nd. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Church & Dwight from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Truist Financial set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Church & Dwight and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn cut Church & Dwight from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $83.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $103.94.

Church & Dwight Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of CHD traded down $0.14 on Friday, hitting $92.46. 1,962,176 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,429,810. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $22.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.43. The stock's 50 day moving average is $96.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.86. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $90.50 and a 1 year high of $116.46.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 19.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. Church & Dwight's revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Michael Read acquired 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $91.27 per share, with a total value of $182,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 7,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $684,981.35. The trade was a 36.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ravichandra Krishnamu Saligram sold 14,660 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,747 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,360,953. The trade was a 51.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 12,879 shares of company stock valued at $1,177,702 and have sold 35,915 shares valued at $3,545,300. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.