Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Decreases Position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC reduced its position in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,309 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,045 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $12,283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Church & Dwight by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Church & Dwight by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Church & Dwight by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 21,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in Church & Dwight by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 3,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, HCR Wealth Advisors grew its stake in shares of Church & Dwight by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 11,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,231,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CHD opened at $104.66 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $25.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.57. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.35 and a twelve month high of $116.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $107.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. This is a positive change from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CHD shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Church & Dwight from $128.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Church & Dwight from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $106.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.56.

Insider Activity at Church & Dwight

In other news, EVP Rene Hemsey sold 11,060 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.98, for a total transaction of $1,216,378.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,437 shares in the company, valued at $707,941.26. The trade was a 63.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.98, for a total transaction of $6,322,069.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,217,442.06. The trade was a 83.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 65,570 shares of company stock worth $7,538,449 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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 Division (SPD), and Corporate. The Consumer Domestic segment offers household products, such as laundry detergents, fabric softener sheets, cat litter, household cleaning products, and personal care products including antiperspirants, oral care products, depilatories, reproductive health products, oral analgesics, nasal saline moisturizers, and dietary supplements.