Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) Short Interest Update

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) saw a large decrease in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,640,000 shares, a decrease of 5.8% from the November 30th total of 5,990,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,490,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days. Approximately 2.3% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CHD shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Church & Dwight from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Church & Dwight in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Church & Dwight from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ravichandra Krishnamu Saligram sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.11, for a total value of $1,061,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 32,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,448,575. This represents a 23.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Michael Read bought 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $106.82 per share, with a total value of $117,502.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 2,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $267,584.10. The trade was a 78.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 593,035 shares of company stock worth $62,282,808 in the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Church & Dwight

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 2.8% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 32,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,358,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 3.3% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,373 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 2.1% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 5,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $577,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 4.4% during the second quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 2,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. 86.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

CHD stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $104.71. 814,550 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,395,382. Church & Dwight has a 52-week low of $93.32 and a 52-week high of $113.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.62. The company has a market cap of $25.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.96, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $106.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.32.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 19.90% and a net margin of 9.08%. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Church & Dwight will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.2838 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.67%.

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.