Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) Short Interest Update

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,000,000 shares, an increase of 29.3% from the October 31st total of 4,640,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,510,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Church & Dwight Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:CHD traded up $1.11 on Monday, reaching $111.24. The company had a trading volume of 2,058,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,398,708. Church & Dwight has a twelve month low of $90.26 and a twelve month high of $113.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $104.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.39, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Church & Dwight had a return on equity of 19.90% and a net margin of 9.08%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Church & Dwight will post 3.45 EPS for the current year.

Church & Dwight Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.2838 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. Church & Dwight's payout ratio is presently 50.67%.

Insider Activity at Church & Dwight

In other news, CEO Matthew Farrell sold 165,823 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.03, for a total transaction of $17,084,743.69. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 112,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,613,438.57. This trade represents a 59.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Joseph James Longo sold 7,780 shares of Church & Dwight stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.44, for a total value of $874,783.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 400 shares in the company, valued at $44,976. The trade was a 95.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 543,513 shares of company stock worth $56,795,253 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Church & Dwight

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CHD. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Church & Dwight by 1,617.3% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,292,854 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,043,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217,568 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Church & Dwight by 4,161.5% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,100,410 shares of the company's stock valued at $114,091,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074,588 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in Church & Dwight during the third quarter valued at about $104,795,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Church & Dwight by 8.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,116,334 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,373,542,000 after purchasing an additional 969,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Church & Dwight during the third quarter valued at approximately $58,338,000. 86.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Church & Dwight from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Church & Dwight from $107.00 to $105.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Church & Dwight from $110.00 to $101.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut Church & Dwight from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $110.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $108.53.

Church & Dwight Company Profile

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.