Forum Financial Management LP Makes New Investment in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Forum Financial Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $300,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter worth approximately $639,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in Church & Dwight in the third quarter worth approximately $5,934,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Church & Dwight by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,426,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,335,000 after acquiring an additional 6,425 shares during the last quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC raised its position in Church & Dwight by 456.2% in the fourth quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 60,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,232,000 after purchasing an additional 49,693 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,336,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $768,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190,154 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

CHD stock opened at $103.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $25.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.53, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.35 and a fifty-two week high of $116.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $107.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.15.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) 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 previous year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.295 dividend. This is an increase from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is presently 49.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.98, for a total transaction of $1,216,378.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,437 shares in the company, valued at $707,941.26. This represents a 63.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.98, for a total transaction of $6,322,069.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,217,442.06. The trade was a 83.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 65,570 shares of company stock worth $7,538,449 in the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays cut their price objective on Church & Dwight from $97.00 to $94.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.59.

About Church & Dwight

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 Division (SPD), and Corporate. The Consumer Domestic segment offers household products, such as laundry detergents, fabric softener sheets, cat litter, household cleaning products, and personal care products including antiperspirants, oral care products, depilatories, reproductive health products, oral analgesics, nasal saline moisturizers, and dietary supplements.