Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Grows Stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 13.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,528 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,478 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $9,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chilton Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 2,087.5% during the fourth quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 74.7% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CHD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Bank of America upped their target price on Church & Dwight from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Church & Dwight from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Church & Dwight from $91.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.07.

Church & Dwight Trading Up 0.7 %

CHD opened at $106.68 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $102.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.83. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $82.25 and a 1-year high of $107.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.53.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65. The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Church & Dwight had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.62 EPS. Analysts expect that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a $0.2838 dividend. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. This is an increase from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.17%.

Insider Activity at Church & Dwight

In related news, EVP Barry A. Bruno sold 9,926 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.55, for a total value of $1,037,763.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $451,551.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Church & Dwight news, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 275,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.83, for a total value of $28,553,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 112,719 shares in the company, valued at $11,703,613.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Barry A. Bruno sold 9,926 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.55, for a total transaction of $1,037,763.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $451,551.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 373,052 shares of company stock worth $38,603,796. 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.