KBC Group NV Raises Stock Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

KBC Group NV grew its position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 48.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 103,409 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,614 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $10,829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CHD. Amalgamated Bank grew its position in Church & Dwight by 0.8% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 50,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,242,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 342,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,755,000 after purchasing an additional 39,695 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 74.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 67,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,032,000 after purchasing an additional 28,986 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 160.1% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 23,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,454,000 after purchasing an additional 14,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis raised its holdings in Church & Dwight by 434.9% in the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 26,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,725,000 after buying an additional 21,238 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE CHD opened at $109.02 on Friday. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.26 and a 52 week high of $110.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $103.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.71 billion, a PE ratio of 48.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.55.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.08% and a return on equity of 19.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.2838 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is currently 50.67%.

Insider Transactions at Church & Dwight

In related news, Director Arthur B. Winkleblack sold 11,590 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.84, for a total value of $1,203,505.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $740,275.36. This trade represents a 61.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 165,823 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.03, for a total transaction of $17,084,743.69. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 112,719 shares in the company, valued at $11,613,438.57. This represents a 59.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 490,613 shares of company stock valued at $50,858,457. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Church & Dwight from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $110.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Church & Dwight in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $101.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Church & Dwight has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $108.53.

Church & Dwight 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.