Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) Downgraded by Morgan Stanley to “Equal Weight”

Morgan Stanley cut shares of Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $110.00 price target on the stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on CHD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Church & Dwight from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Church & Dwight from $116.00 to $108.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. TD Cowen started coverage on Church & Dwight in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a buy rating and a $116.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on Church & Dwight from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Church & Dwight has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $106.58.

Church & Dwight Stock Up 0.4 %

CHD stock opened at $105.60 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $102.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Church & Dwight has a 1-year low of $82.25 and a 1-year high of $110.31. The stock has a market cap of $25.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.54.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 19.86% and a net margin of 13.38%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Church & Dwight will post 3.43 EPS for the current year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $0.2838 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Barry A. Bruno sold 59,328 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.37, for a total value of $5,895,423.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $429,179.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Barry A. Bruno sold 59,328 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.37, for a total transaction of $5,895,423.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $429,179.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,654 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,325 shares in the company, valued at $1,104,775. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 200,722 shares of company stock worth $20,986,416 in the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Church & Dwight

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,265,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,861,865,000 after purchasing an additional 354,946 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Church & Dwight by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 9,097,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $948,968,000 after acquiring an additional 92,862 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Church & Dwight by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,586,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $786,566,000 after acquiring an additional 153,127 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter valued at about $259,967,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Church & Dwight by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,783,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,028,000 after acquiring an additional 31,145 shares during the period. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.