Geneva Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 12.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 278,887 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,303 shares during the quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $26,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Church & Dwight by 89.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,027,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $552,283,000 after purchasing an additional 2,839,783 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Church & Dwight by 99.6% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 526,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,224,000 after acquiring an additional 262,801 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in Church & Dwight by 1,474.7% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 233,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,379,000 after acquiring an additional 218,501 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Church & Dwight by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,200,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $751,405,000 after acquiring an additional 217,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Liontrust Investment Partners LLP increased its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 108.1% in the 3rd quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 306,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,056,000 after purchasing an additional 159,046 shares during the last quarter. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CHD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Church & Dwight from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Church & Dwight in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. TheStreet upgraded shares of Church & Dwight from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Church & Dwight presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.56.

Church & Dwight Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CHD traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $107.04. The stock had a trading volume of 882,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,286,880. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $26.17 billion, a PE ratio of 33.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.51. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $82.25 and a 1 year high of $108.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $104.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.17.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.10. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 13.13%. The business had revenue of $1.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.2838 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.87%.

Insider Activity at Church & Dwight

In related news, EVP Michael Read sold 4,500 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $472,500.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Michael Read sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $472,500.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Penry W. Price sold 7,752 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.29, for a total value of $761,944.08. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,692 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,525,266.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 384,724 shares of company stock worth $39,895,310 over the last 90 days. Company 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.