Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 19.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 716,004 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 115,499 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $74,973,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CHD. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Church & Dwight during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 224.4% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 266 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CHD shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Church & Dwight from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Church & Dwight in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Church & Dwight presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.53.

Insider Activity

In other Church & Dwight news, EVP Rick Spann sold 39,520 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total transaction of $4,426,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,973 shares in the company, valued at $556,976. This trade represents a 88.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Joseph James Longo sold 7,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.44, for a total transaction of $874,783.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,976. This trade represents a 95.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 57,302 shares of company stock worth $6,362,338 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of CHD opened at $104.33 on Thursday. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.35 and a 12-month high of $113.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $25.66 billion, a PE ratio of 44.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.59. The business’s 50 day moving average is $105.40 and its 200 day moving average is $104.66.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.77. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 20.03%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. Research analysts expect that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio is 49.79%.

Church & Dwight Profile

Church & Dwight Co, Inc engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of household, personal care, and specialty products. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Domestic, Consumer International, Specialty Products, and Corporate. The Consumer Domestic segment offers household products, such as laundry detergents, fabric softener sheets, cat litter, and household cleaning products, and personal care products including antiperspirants, oral care products, depilatories, reproductive health products, oral analgesics, nasal saline moisturizers, and dietary supplements.