Sanctuary Advisors LLC Grows Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,898 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $3,096,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Church & Dwight by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.3% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 32,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,358,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. HCR Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Church & Dwight by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 11,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Church & Dwight by 3.3% in the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in Church & Dwight by 2.1% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 5,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $577,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $106.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Church & Dwight in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.47.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

Church & Dwight stock opened at $105.40 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.93 billion, a PE ratio of 44.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.59. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a one year low of $96.35 and a one year high of $113.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $105.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.70.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.77. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 20.03%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. This is a positive change from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is presently 49.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Michael Read acquired 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $106.82 per share, for a total transaction of $117,502.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $267,584.10. This trade represents a 78.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Rick Spann sold 39,520 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total value of $4,426,240.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,976. This trade represents a 88.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,522 shares of company stock worth $5,487,555. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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, and Corporate. The Consumer Domestic segment offers household products, such as laundry detergents, fabric softener sheets, cat litter, and household cleaning products, and personal care products including antiperspirants, oral care products, depilatories, reproductive health products, oral analgesics, nasal saline moisturizers, and dietary supplements.