Kennebec Savings Bank Sells 131 Shares of Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD)

Kennebec Savings Bank lowered its position in Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) by 22.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 451 shares of the company’s stock after selling 131 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank’s holdings in Church & Dwight were worth $46,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Church & Dwight in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Church & Dwight during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Church & Dwight by 224.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Church & Dwight during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Church & Dwight during the second quarter worth about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CHD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their price target on Church & Dwight from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Church & Dwight from $105.00 to $103.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Church & Dwight from $99.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.61.

Insider Transactions at Church & Dwight

In related news, EVP Michael Read purchased 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $106.82 per share, with a total value of $117,502.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 2,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $267,584.10. This trade represents a 78.29 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ravichandra Krishnamu Saligram sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.11, for a total transaction of $1,061,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 32,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,448,575. This represents a 23.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 593,035 shares of company stock valued at $62,282,808. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Church & Dwight Price Performance

NYSE:CHD opened at $107.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.62. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.09 and a 52 week high of $113.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.16. The firm has a market cap of $26.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.58.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.77. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 19.90% and a net margin of 9.08%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Church & Dwight Co., Inc. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Church & Dwight Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. This is an increase from Church & Dwight’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Church & Dwight’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.67%.

About Church & Dwight

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.