Short Interest in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) Expands By 10.1%

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,080,000 shares, an increase of 10.1% from the May 31st total of 5,520,000 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

Shares of CHD opened at $105.48 on Thursday. Church & Dwight has a fifty-two week low of $82.25 and a fifty-two week high of $110.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.33. The company has a market capitalization of $25.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50-day moving average is $106.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.20.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.10. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 13.13%. The firm had revenue of $1.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Church & Dwight will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.2838 per share. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Church & Dwight from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays reduced their target price on Church & Dwight from $83.00 to $82.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Church & Dwight from $98.00 to $97.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, HSBC raised their target price on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Church & Dwight has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Richard A. Dierker sold 86,740 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.56, for a total transaction of $9,243,014.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 7,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $813,479.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Richard A. Dierker sold 86,740 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.56, for a total transaction of $9,243,014.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 7,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $813,479.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,654 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.00, for a total value of $5,847,978.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,104,775. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 182,346 shares of company stock worth $19,465,948 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Church & Dwight

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CHD. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Church & Dwight by 64.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $487,000 after buying an additional 1,843 shares in the last quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA lifted its stake in Church & Dwight by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 4,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $449,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in Church & Dwight by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in Church & Dwight by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 113,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Church & Dwight by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 25,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,667,000 after purchasing an additional 4,696 shares in the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.