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. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,230,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.9 days. Currently, 2.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $109.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Argus increased their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Church & Dwight in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $114.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Church & Dwight has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Richard A. Dierker sold 86,740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.56, for a total value of $9,243,014.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 7,634 shares in the company, valued at $813,479.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Penry W. Price sold 7,752 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.47, for a total value of $817,603.44. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,692 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,709,735.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Richard A. Dierker sold 86,740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were 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 directly owns 7,634 shares in the company, valued at $813,479.04. 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 ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Roble Belko & Company Inc bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

Shares of CHD opened at $104.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $106.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $102.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.64 billion, a PE ratio of 33.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Church & Dwight has a 52-week low of $82.25 and a 52-week high of $110.31.

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

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.87%.

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.