Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. by 20.9% in the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to 890,892 shares valued at approximately $98 million.
• Insider trading activity includes EVP Michael Read acquiring 3,000 shares for over $276,000, while EVP Carlen Hooker sold 11,875 shares, indicating significant changes in insider ownership.
• Church & Dwight reported earnings of $0.94 per share in its most recent quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with total revenue of $1.51 billion, slightly down from the previous year.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Free Report) by 20.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 890,892 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 154,001 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned 0.36% of Church & Dwight worth $98,078,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Church & Dwight by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,316,414 shares of the company's stock valued at $451,975,000 after acquiring an additional 20,887 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,018,552 shares of the company's stock worth $316,073,000 after purchasing an additional 393,068 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,921,247 shares of the company's stock worth $305,884,000 after purchasing an additional 298,848 shares in 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 fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,404,961 shares of the company's stock worth $251,823,000 after purchasing an additional 124,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Church & Dwight by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,864,115 shares of the company's stock valued at $195,191,000 after buying an additional 68,896 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.60% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Church & Dwight

In related news, CEO Richard A. Dierker purchased 7,950 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $94.66 per share, with a total value of $752,547.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 16,358 shares in the company, valued at $1,548,448.28. This trade represents a 94.55% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ravichandra Krishnamu Saligram sold 14,660 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total value 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 approximately $1,360,953. This represents a 51.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 12,950 shares of company stock worth $1,211,297 and sold 35,915 shares worth $3,545,300. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on CHD. Cowen lowered Church & Dwight from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Bank of America raised Church & Dwight from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $112.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Church & Dwight from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Church & Dwight from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Church & Dwight from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Four equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Church & Dwight presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $103.94.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

Shares of CHD stock traded up $0.12 on Thursday, hitting $92.62. The company had a trading volume of 1,956,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,319,078. The firm has a market cap of $22.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $96.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.82 and a twelve month high of $116.46.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 19.27% and a net margin of 8.66%. Church & Dwight's quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. 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 is presently 55.66%.

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.