Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Boosts Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. boosted its position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 72,473 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,180 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $6,853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CHD. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 51.0% in the third quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 888 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Church & Dwight by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 75,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,873,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in Church & Dwight by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 82,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,562,000 after buying an additional 11,000 shares in the last quarter. Toews Corp ADV bought a new stake in Church & Dwight during the third quarter valued at about $779,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 62.0% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 538,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,314,000 after acquiring an additional 205,983 shares in the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Church & Dwight Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of CHD stock traded up $0.49 on Tuesday, reaching $107.40. 272,882 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,265,552. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $103.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.19 billion, a PE ratio of 35.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $82.25 and a 52 week high of $108.10.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.65. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 12.88%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.62 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.44 EPS for the current year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, February 15th were paid a $0.2838 dividend. This is a positive change from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CHD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $109.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. TheStreet upgraded shares of Church & Dwight from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Argus raised shares of Church & Dwight from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Church & Dwight from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.07.

Insider Activity at Church & Dwight

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 9,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.22, for a total value of $930,041.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,373 shares in the company, valued at $638,702.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 9,280 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.22, for a total value of $930,041.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $638,702.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Michael Read sold 4,500 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $472,500.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 373,052 shares of company stock worth $38,603,796 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

About Church & Dwight

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.