Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Acquires New Shares in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 28,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,942,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHD. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Church & Dwight in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in Church & Dwight during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CHD shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $94.00 to $84.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $106.00 to $102.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $106.00 to $98.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Church & Dwight from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael Read purchased 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $92.07 per share, for a total transaction of $276,210.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $506,845.35. This represents a 119.76% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Maynadier Patrick D. De sold 54,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.98, for a total value 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. This represents a 83.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 80,230 shares of company stock valued at $8,903,734. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Church & Dwight Stock Up 1.4%

Church & Dwight stock opened at $95.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $23.62 billion, a PE ratio of 40.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $102.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.26. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $90.99 and a 1-year high of $116.46.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.02. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 20.03% and a net margin of 9.58%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. Church & Dwight’s payout ratio is currently 50.64%.

Church & Dwight Company 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.