Renaissance Technologies LLC Decreases Stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Renaissance Technologies LLC decreased its holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 20.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 402,976 shares of the company’s stock after selling 104,900 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $41,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Texas Yale Capital Corp. grew its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 10,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Garner Asset Management Corp grew its position in Church & Dwight by 5.1% during the first quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 2,058 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Elk River Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Church & Dwight by 0.3% in the second quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,595,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Sovereign Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 17,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,819,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CHD shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded Church & Dwight from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $110.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Argus lifted their price target on Church & Dwight from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Church & Dwight in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $114.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.58.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CHD opened at $102.61 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $25.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.21. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $82.25 and a 52 week high of $110.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

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

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.2838 per share. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Barry A. Bruno sold 59,328 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $429,179.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.