Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) Reaches New 1-Year High at $105.83

Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $105.83 and last traded at $105.61, with a volume of 161921 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $104.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CHD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Church & Dwight from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on Church & Dwight from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Church & Dwight from $94.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Church & Dwight from $91.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Church & Dwight from a "c+" rating to a "b" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $103.40.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $102.16 and a 200-day moving average of $96.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.84 billion, a PE ratio of 34.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.65. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 12.88%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were given a $0.2838 dividend. This is a positive change from Church & Dwight's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. Church & Dwight's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Penry W. Price sold 7,752 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.29, for a total transaction of $761,944.08. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,692 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,525,266.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 275,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.83, for a total transaction of $28,553,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 112,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,703,613.77. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Penry W. Price sold 7,752 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.29, for a total value of $761,944.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,692 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,525,266.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 373,052 shares of company stock valued at $38,603,796 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Church & Dwight

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Church & Dwight by 89.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,027,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $552,283,000 after purchasing an additional 2,839,783 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter valued at $259,967,000. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Church & Dwight by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 9,004,713 shares of the company's stock valued at $851,414,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533,877 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Church & Dwight by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,265,072 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,861,865,000 after purchasing an additional 354,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,334,950 shares of the company's stock valued at $126,233,000 after buying an additional 277,017 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.60% of the company's stock.

Church & Dwight Company Profile

Church & Dwight Co, Inc develops, manufactures, and markets household, personal care, and specialty products. It operates in three segments: Consumer Domestic, Consumer International, and Specialty Products Division. The company offers cat litters, carpet deodorizers, laundry detergents, and baking soda, as well as other baking soda based products under the ARM & HAMMER brand; condoms, lubricants, and vibrators under the TROJAN brand; stain removers, cleaning solutions, laundry detergents, and bleach alternatives under the OXICLEAN brand; toothbrushes under the SPINBRUSH brand; home pregnancy and ovulation test kits under the FIRST RESPONSE brand; depilatories under the NAIR brand; oral analgesics under the ORAJEL brand; laundry detergents under the XTRA brand; gummy dietary supplements under the L'IL CRITTERS and VITAFUSION brands; dry shampoos under the BATISTE brand; water flossers and showerheads under the WATERPIK brand; cold shortening and relief products under the ZICAM brand; oral care products under the THERABREATH brand; and acne treatment products under the HERO brand.